

I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. # 


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 










































- 




. 

' 

‘ 

















I 






















' 




s 




• V 




























/ ; 

















* 









% 


















V 



































































































































* 








































I 






























































-• 


•« 






















































L I 0 N E L L 0 


A 


SEQUEL TO THE JEW OF VERONA. 


J > by 

/ * 

REV. A. BRESCLANA, S.J. 



BALTIMORE: 

KELLY, HEDIAN & PIET. 
1860 . 


P2 L 3 

• B 'JSH L 


* 


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year I860, by 
KELLY, HEDIAN & PIET, 

in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the State of Maryland. 






PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR. 


We place before the American reader the me- 
moirs of Lionello, a sequel to the Jew of Verona. 

In the latter work, Father Bresciani shows, by 
historical evidence, the effects of secret societies, 
in the hour of their sanguinary triumph at the 
capital of the Catholic world ; in the former, he 
describes with singular exactness, their intrinsic 
form, and the spirit of the bad men who thus con- 
spire against the order and weal of Christendom. 

In an age of turbulent passions, lawless preten- 
sions, open or covert anarchy, dereliction of pri- 
mary duties on the part of nations and rulers in 
the Old World, it behooves statesmen and patriots 
who value the permanency of free institutions in 
our own country; it behooves Christians, and 
parents especially, who feel the necessity of up- 
holding authority, divine and human, to study 

3 


4 PREFACE. 

the causes of the disastrous events recorded in 
these pages, and, since impiety is consistent and 
invariable in its operations, — “impii in circuitu 
ambulant,” — the character of the pseudo-reformers 
and heroes who are even now actively engaged, 
for their selfish advancement, in trampling on the 
true interests of humanity and the principles of 
religion. 

In our ardent love of liberty and happy ex- 
perience of the blessings of constitutional govern- 
ment, we are easily misled by specious and 
sounding fallacies. We are prone to welcome, 
without examination, the seeming propagandism 
of our liberal ideas in European countries ; to hail 
as compeers of Washington and his pure-minded 
co-laborers, the filibustering Cavours, Farinis, and 
Garibaldis, who trumpet, through secret societies, 
their disinterested love of nationalities, and ex- 
emplify their aims and merits by villanies, worthy 
of Catiline and his nefarious associates, against 
the very rights of the people whom they flatter, 
corrupt, and oppress. 

God forbid that this undeserved admiration and 
praise so thoughtlessly bestowed should predis- 
pose us to greater excesses ! God forbid that 
Europe, which, a few years since, infected our 


PREFACE. 


5 


bodies with a frightful pestilence, should poison 
our minds with its pernicious doctrines and ex- 
amples ! Such a consummation we may deem 
unlikely : nevertheless, if we wish to profit by the 
warnings of history, we will shun all communica- 
tion with knaves and hypocrites and assassins, 
rebels not only against society and lawfully-con- 
stituted governments, but against God and His 
commandments ; 

“ilia propago, 

Contemptrix superum, ssevseque avidissima csedis 
Et violenta.” 


We will resist manfully and religiously the ten- 
dencies of a material age which clouds the mind 
and hardens the heart against all that is noblest 
in our nature and worthiest of our aspirations; 
which, making gods of perishable goods, and a 
heaven of the earth on which we sojourn, alienates 
us from our Creator and debars us from our 
permanent dwelling. We will, above all, secure 
to the young generation due instruction and dis- 
cipline at home, sound and religious education 
in schools, under competent and trustworthy 
teachers ; throw around it timely and adequate de- 
fences against the sophistry, extravagances, and 


6 


PREFACE. 


vices of the world, against the snares and wicked- 
ness of secret societies. The memoirs of Lionello 
illustrate these points, and furnish the thoughtful 
reader with useful and admirable lessons. We 
commend the work to parents especially, and 
guardians. 


CONTENTS, 


PAGE 

Chap. I. — The Suicide 9 

II. — Lionello 16 

III. — Childhood 20 

IY. — Servants 25 

Y. — The Preceptor 38 

YI. — Studies 56 

YII. — The University 64 

YIII. — The Police Prison 85 

IX. — The Hospital of St. Servolo 101 

X. — The Vendite and the Secret Propagandist of 

Carbonarism 117 

XI.— The Oath 187 

XII. — The Last Grades 148 

XIII. — The Practices of Carbonarism 160 

XI Y.— The Sepulchre of Galla Placidia 165 

XV. — Ariel and Horalice 182 

XYI. — The Return of the Carbonaro 198 

7 


8 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Chap. XVII. — The Great St. Bernard 204 

XVIII.— Masonry 223 

XIX.— The Orphan 243 

XX.— The Sleighs 264 

XXI. — The Ordeal of Lisbon 270 

XXII.— The Whaler 279 

XXIII.— The Pirate 283 

XXIV.— Isabella 292 

XXV. — Joseph Garibaldi 298 

XXVI. — The Return of the Exile 321 

XXVII. — The Last Crime 345 

Appendix 369 


LIONELLO. 


CHAPTEB I. 

THE SUICIDE. 

Bartolo was a wealthy Roman capitalist, proprietor 
of large and handsome estates in the Campania. For 
several years he had been a widower, cheered by the 
society of an only daughter, who, at the epoch of our 
narrative, had attained her seventeenth year. Alisa, 
gifted with rare beauty and adorned with rarer virtues, 
was passionately beloved by Aser, a Jew of Verona. 
This ardent and chivalrous young man had distin- 
guished himself in the Roman and Hungarian Revolu- 
tions; but, reclaimed from his political heresies, he 
withdrew to the forest cantons of Switzerland. There 
he became a Christian and abjured the secret societies 
into which, a few years previous, he had been un- 
happily inveigled. This act of renunciation cost him 
his life. He was waylaid and murdered by two assas- 
sins. 

Bartolo was, in 1848, an eye-witness of the assassina- 
tion of Count Rossi, prime-minister of Pius IX. ; of the 
assault on the Quirinal Palace, the following day; of 
the flight of the Pope to Gaeta to escape the fury of his 
rebellious and ungrateful children. Horror-stricken by 


LIONELLO. 


10 

these disastrous events, Bartolo fled from Borne with 
Alisa, and his two nephews, Mimo and Lando, and 
repaired to Geneva. Whilst he lodged at the Crown 
Hotel, Don Baldassare, an Italian priest, fellow-refugee 
from the troubles of Italy and sojourner in the Canton 
of Vaud, came often from Vevay to visit Bartolo and 
enjoy the company of his amiable family. 

One day Alisa was bending over her embroidery- 
frame and listening to the conversation of her father, 
cousins, and Don Baldassare. The gentlemen were 
seated on a terrace which overlooked Lake Leman. 
Suddenly a loud report shook the windows of the ad- 
joining chamber and shivered the mantel-mirror. Alisa 
sprang from her chair and flung herself into the arms 
of her father. The young men bounded into the room 
and struggled to open the door whence the noise had 
issued; but, finding it locked, they continued their vio- 
lent efforts till they succeeded in forcing it from its 
hinges. The shutters were closed, and the apartment 
filled with suffocating smoke. A lamp was burning on 
the table. Lando opened the windows, and then be- 
held, in an arm-chair, a disfigured corpse. 

At this moment Bartolo entered, followed by the be- 
wildered Alisa. Mimo noticed a packet of papers lying 
before the dead man, and a manuscript bound in red 
morocco and labelled, “Memoirs of Count Lionello de 

B .” Unperceived by his friends, he concealed 

both on his person before the arrival of the landlord. 
The latter, with two of his waiters, soon entered, breath- 
less, and, at the horrible spectacle before them, uttered 
a loud cry and stood thunderstruck. 

The unhappy man, who had perished by his own act, 
was bent downward in the chair, with one hand firmly 


THE SUICIDE. 


11 


clenched and the other trailing on the floor. Near him 
lay a double-barrelled pistol. It was evident he had 
fired into his mouth and fastened the two triggers with 
a string to produce a simultaneous discharge. The head 
was frightfully shattered, — the face rent from the mouth 
to the ear. The lower lip, partly detached, rested on 
the long and bushy heard; the left eye, unsocketed, 
dangled on the cheek; fragments of skull, shreds of 
flesh, and portions of brain intermixed with fractured 
teeth, and gory tufts of hair which the stranger wore 
in the Garibaldi fashion, spattered the opposite wall 
and quivered on the checkered floor. The lineaments, 
in their mutilated condition, were no longer distin- 
guishable as a whole; for tongue and nose and muscles 
were torn from the face and scattered over the shoul- 
ders. It was a horrible spectacle. The pistol-barrels, 
doubly shotted, had pierced, in four places, the wain- 
scot behind the chair. The murdered man wore white 
pantaloons and a pink Flemish-linen shirt elegantly 
embroidered on the breast and wristbands. The last 
he had turned back to leave the hand freer. The right 
arm was encircled with a link-bracelet of gold. A 
miniature on ivory of a young lady of distinguished 
mien, of sweet and modest features, clasped the ex- 
tremities of the chain. 

In the midst of the general amazement' and stillness, 
Don Baldassare, who in his priestly office had gained 
considerable experience, said at length to the keeper 
of the hotel, “Send some one immediately to inform 
the police.” Then, urging the waiter to go speedily, 
he turned to the master of the house and inquired the 
name of the deceased and the length of time since his 
arrival. 


12 


LIONELLO. 


“We can easily ascertain that fact, sir, by consulting 
the register, where he entered his name, shortly after 
his arrival, yesterday at sundown. He ate very little 
at supper, sent some letters to the post-office, called for 
a bottle of strong rum, — there you see the bottle on 
the table, — and then shut himself up in his room. I 
sleep under this chamber, and, during the whole night, 
my wife and I heard him pacing the floor, — sometimes 
slowly, sometimes rapidly. It was a long time, in con- 
sequence, before we could get to sleep. Now and then 
he stamped on the floor and seemed, by the great noise 
he made, to throw himself violently into the chair, 
and again, after a moment’s quiet, he began to walk up 
and down the room. Toward morning I was able to 
sleep a little. When I got up, I gave directions to the 
servant not to wake the stranger till a late hour unless 
he should ring his bell. But, my God ! who would have 
believed it? Oh, it is a horrible sight!” 

Just then the commissary of police arrived. He had 
been apprized of some unusual event by the gather- 
ing of a crowd about the doors of the hotel, at the 
report of the pistol. To prevent them intruding into 
the house, he ordered the doors to be locked, and sta- 
tioned guards at every entrance. Before his arrival, 
Alisa, speechless, and trembling in every limb, had 
been removed by her father to a distance from this 
tragic scene. He succeeded in soothing her by his 
tender words and caresses. 

The commissary was accompanied by two officers of 
the criminal court, and a surgeon whom he chanced to 
meet on Bergues Square. They found no pulse in the 
arm of the murdered man, but a slight quivering about 
the region of the heart, which soon ceased. 


THE SUICIDE. 


13 


These men exchanged looks, and the commissary- 
questioned the landlord in regard to the name and 
rank of the stranger and the time of his arrival. Ob- 
taining no satisfactory information, he ordered the 
man’s trunks to be opened. The linen was marked 
with the initials L. R. There was a letter on which 
the name of Lionello was written in full, but the family 
name was blotted out with very black ink. The com- 
missary put the sheet against the window-glass, but he 
could not read the characters. The name registered at 
the office of the hotel was Andrea Loco ; but a pen 
embellished with a topaz seal bore the letters L. D. R. 
One of the police-agents called the attention of the 
commissary to the bracelet on the man’s right wrist. 
He unclasped it, and, after looking a while at the beau- 
tiful miniature, showed it to his assistants. On the 
interior surface was the inscription, Josephine to her 
dear brother Lionello. But the surname remained un- 
discovered. 

The officers found in a pocket of the trunk fifty-two 
pistoles and two hundred gregorines,* besides bills of 
exchange on London to a considerable amount. They 
found also, in a red case, an episcopal cross studded 
with valuable diamonds, a ring set with a pure, full- 
sized emerald, and other costly stones encircled with 
bezels of gold, manifestly reft from some precious 
frame. 

Beneath his papers, the deceased had deposited his 
certificate of membership in the society of the Car- 
bonari, and, at a later date, in that of Young Italy, 
and in other secret societies of Switzerland, Germany, 
and France. Under the name of Giulio, he held a high 


* Gold Qoin of the value of $3.20. 
2 


14 


L I 0 N E L L 0. 


rank in these fraternities. He was one of the principal 
dignitaries of the Carbonari, since, at Cesena, he signed 
himself as registrar. His province was the Lombardo- 
Venetian kingdom. In a kid-skin sheath was a tri- 
angular dagger with cruciform hilt of blue steel. A 
death’s-head was carved on the pommel. On the first 
blade was inscribed, “The present is ever the time;” 
on the second, “Death to traitors;” on the third, under 
a crown and a cross, “Death to tyrants.” The number 
of the order engraved on the guard was 2076. 

The commissary opened three letters which he found, 
all written by the same hand and signed with the same 
name: “Your most affectionate sister Josephine .” The 
dates had been left untouched, but the places where 
they were posted had been scratched and obliterated. 
One was written in 1833, and despatched to St. Peters- 
burg. The writer pens a remonstrance full of sisterly 
affection, and begs him not to waste his patrimony, but 
to return to her and espouse Lauretta, a rich, beautiful, 
and virtuous lady who would make him truly happy. 
The second, in 1838, was addressed to him in Lisbon. 
In this letter Josephine informs her brother that she 
has sold the best portion of her property. She implores 
him not to cast himself headlong into the gulf of dis- 
sipation. She sends him' enclosed a draft for five hun- 
dred louis. The last, in 1842, was transmitted to Val- 
paraiso. She assures him that now she has not a foot 
of ground nor a brick in a house which she can call 
her own. All had been seized by the creditors, even 
the furniture and the paternal mansion. Nevertheless, 
she conjures him to return, pledges to him the undying 
love of a fond sister, and promises to share with him, in 
poverty, her last crust. 


THE SUICIDE. 


15 


This letter was rumpled and frayed at the folds. It 
bore the stains of many tears drawn from the eyes of 
that unfortunate brother. 

The commissary put these letters in a pocket-book, 
took the dagger, pistol, seal, and two smaller pistols 
loaded with balls, which the police-agents found in his 
vest-pockets. He ordered the room to be locked, said 
he would soon return with notaries of the tribunal, 
posted a subordinate at the door, and left the house. 

Mimo, Lando, and the two friends withdrew into the 
parlor, spoke encouragingly to Alisa, and promised to 
escort her to Sister Clara’s. There she might pass the 
day till the corpse should be carried to some other 
place. They expressed a thousand conjectures on the 
sad event. One said, — 

“He is a desperado who squandered all his property.” 

“But how is that possible,” said another, “since he 
had in his possession all that gold and those drafts?” 

“Who knows?” replied Bartolo. “He is a sworn 
member of those secret societies, and very likely he is 
cashier of the central committee.” 

Mimo looked all around him and said, in a whisper, — 

“Hush! I hope we will succeed in learning some- 
thing more of this mystery than the police. When I 
entered the apartment, I saw, on the table before the 
self-murderer, his memoirs and a packet of papers. I 
put them in my pocket. We will read them together, 
at our convenience, and discover the causes which drove 
the young man to that desperate act.” 


16 


LIONELLO. 


CHAPTER II. 

LIONELLO. 

After this shocking event, which cast a gloom over 
their souls, the friends of Bartolo advised him, in order 
to divert her mind, to make an excursion with Alisa to 
the charming groves of Chablais. They added that, as 
the heat of June was becoming oppressive, the party 
could enjoy the refreshing shades of the country about 
Evian, whose hill-sides were wooded with frequent 
clumps of walnut, chestnut, and oak trees. Bartolo 
joyfully embraced the suggestion. Necessary prepara- 
tions were accordingly made to spend a few days at a 
villa. Lando was commissioned to hire a bark, and 
early the following day they hoisted a sail and dipped 
their oars in the waters of the lake. A light breeze 
swelled the canvas and seconded the efforts of the 
rowers. The lake seemed to rise from its slumbers and 
welcome the morning zephyrs which disported over the 
limpid waves, and the twinkling stars which gleamed 
upon it paled before Venus in all her loveliness, — bright 
harbinger of the god of day. Swallows, emerging from 
their nests in the hospitable houses which dot the ver- 
dant banks of the lake, dart over its bosom in joyous 
crowds, and salute, with twittering acclaim, the rising 
sun. Sometimes they soar into the upper air, some- 
times they skim the surface of the water with rapid 
wing, like a stone which ricochets from a vigorous arm. 

Our excursionists watched their gambols with delight. 
Alisa, seated near the stern of the vessel, gazed silently 


LIONELLO. 


17 

on the beauty of the heavens, pictured with varied dyes 
on the tremulous waters. As they glided by an inlet, 
a melodious lark shot like an arrow into the sky, flut- 
tered for a while over their heads, and thrilled the air 
with a capricious song, — rests, passages, quavers, and 
refrains. Alisa was enchanted with his warblings and 
his frolics, as he plunged like a stone to the lake, and 
then cleaved the sky to recommence his carols with 
ecstatic voice. 

“I see,” she murmured to herself, “how easily we 
can unite with labor hymns of praise to the glory of God 
and acts of thanksgiving for the love and mercy which 
he evinces toward his creatures. This lark traverses 
the sky, he goes and comes, he mounts and descends, 
with unwearied voice and a ceaseless canticle. And 
we, — we, made by the hand of God, endowed with in- 
telligence, and stamped with his image, pass entire days 
without a word of praise or thought of gratitude ! All 
creatures strive, with rival zeal, to do him honor, — the 
dawn which is brightening the horizon, this sparkling 
lake, this air so pure and balmy, that tinted and serene 
sky, the birds pouring sweet notes on the morning 
air, yon fields of golden grain undulating beneath the 
zephyr’s breath, the mellow fruits, the earth arrayed 
in her rarest charms. And thy heart, Alisa, thy heart 
is cold ! I coast along these shores, once marked with 
the footprints of St. Francis de Sales, when, through 
numberless toils and perils, he journeyed in quest of 
heretics to reclaim them to catholic faith and the love 
of God. 0 Lord and Saviour ! deign to separate me 
from self, for too often have I strayed from thee, the 
sovereign good ! I feel that my heart is no longer at 

peace ; I feel that poor Aser oh, yes ! he is with 

2* 


18 


LIONELLO. 


thee; he reposes in the midst of thy pure light, and 
bids me suppress these vain repinings.” 

Even amid the tranquil beauties of nature Alisa was 
troubled by painful emotions; but she found alleviation 
of her sorrows, in the nobleness of her heart and the 
purity of her affection. She had recourse to prayer : 
and in that prayer she experienced consolations to 
which young persons of her sex addicted to novel-read- 
ing will ever be entire strangers. 

As fancies flitted in succession through her mind, 
Alisa endeavored to banish her gloomy thoughts by 
fixing her attention on the beauties of the landscape, 
the bright vistas from the shores of the lake, the lofty 
summits of the mountains which bounded the horizon, 
the hills crowned with forest-trees, the gray turrets of 
time-worn castles, the noble palaces surmounting the 
acclivities-, the rich and yellow harvests waving in the 
sunlight. She saw fishermen on the rocks and the j utting 
land, casting their long lines into the lake and sweep- 
ing the shore with their nets to catch minnows and 
shrimps and roaches ; she saw others, again, fixing their 
weirs, dipping their nets, hauling their seines for the 
finny tribe. Perfectly delighted with these views, our 
party reached the villa which Bartolo had rented. It 
stood on a hillock surrounded on two sides by a smiling 
valley, through which flowed a fresh-water stream 
shaded with alders, poplars, and weeping-willows. 
Prom the northern declivity on which it stood, the 
inmates descended, by steps bordered with tufted edges 
of myrtle, savins, and tamarisk, into a beautiful mea- 
dow, where a thousand native flowers admired their 
charms in the limpid rivulet. In the midst of the 
lawn towered a venerable linden; and under its broad 


LIONELLO. 


19 


and shady branches stood two benches, face to face, 
entwined with fragrant jessamines. To this retired 
spot Bartolo and his friends were wont to repair after 
dinner; and there, under the dense foliage on the 
margin of the streamlet, they listened, amid the 
warblings of birds, to Mimo, who read the autograph 
memoirs of Lionello, written for the instruction of 
Italian youths. 

They satisfactorily prove that noble birth, excellence 
of character, an ingenuous soul, the fairest endowments 
of the understanding and the most amiable qualities 
of the heart, cannot resist the pernicious influence of 
a mischievous system of education and the perverse 
habits of early life. Here was a young man lured from 
his studies, the arms of his parents, the delights and 
duties of a chaste and virtuous love, to cast himself 
into the arms of base and vicious men. His memoirs 
will serve as a dreadful lesson to parents and to chil- 
dren, — a salutary lesson for the inexperienced who cross 
the threshold of social life at an epoch distracted by 
so many revolutionary ideas. 

The victim of profound melancholy, Lionello (as we 
learn from these writings) was nevertheless a man of 
lively and amiable disposition. Transported in im- 
agination beyond the present, he often reverted to his 
youth, and clung to its reminiscences with a feverish 
delight, fearful to break the illusion and renew the 
consciousness of a crushing reality. It will be well for 
the reader to keep this characteristic in view, that he 
may not be startled, in the course of this narrative, to 
find a man mingling, with the horrors of dejection and 
remorse, serene thoughts and delightful memories. 
Ah ! it is no uncommon yearning of the wretched to 


20 


LIONELLO. 


temper their present misery by the recollection of hal- 
cyon days. Writers of fiction who invariably surround 
their heroes with tragic events misinterpret or mis- 
represent the human heart. 


CHAPTER III. 

CHILDHOOD. 

I was born of one of the noblest families of Italy, the 
very year that the Emperor Napoleon married, at Paris, 
Marie Louise, daughter of Francis I., Emperor of 
Austria. My parents lived in great state. No one 
rivalled them in splendid equipages, brilliant f£tes, and 
sumptuous entertainments. Their saloons were adorned 
with corresponding magnificence ; their balls and soirdes, 
in the city during the winter, in the country during the 
summer, were superb. The display at the latter sea- 
son, was on a grander scale. The castle occupied a 
very handsome site, about three miles from the city ; 
and broad, excellent roads made the demesne very 
accessible to our friends who thronged around us in 
May and October. A spacious and elegant mansion, 
well- cultivated gardens, a shady park stocked with 
roes, harts, and fallow-deer, aviaries containing native 
and exotic birds, dairies abounding in the milk of Swiss 
cows, ponds supplied with fish, avenues laid out with 
taste and neatly kept, thick greenswards trimmed and 
enclosed, with edges regularly clipped, — these, and other 
attractions, invited the friends of the family to visit our 
enchanting abode, and spend, in divers diversions, balls, 


CHILDHOOD. 


21 


and banquets, the loveliest days of spring and 
autumn. 

My father had there hospitably entertained Napoleon 
as he passed on his way to the Italian war. The em- 
peror invited him to his marriage, treated him with 
marked distinction, and decorated him with the noble 
insignia of the Legion of Honor. From this period my 
father maintained intimate relations with the marshals 
of the empire, and at Milan frequented the court of the 
Viceroy of Italy. After the conflagration of Moscow and 
the severe reverses at the passage of the Beresina and at 
Leipsic, after successive levies of conscripts which mowed 
down the youth of Italy, lists were opened for volun- 
teers, under the name of “Italian Cohorts.” These new 
recruits were distinguished from the other soldiers by 
the galloons which they wore on their arms and breasts. 
The friends and adherents of the emperor rivalled each 
other in extraordinary efforts to furnish these last 
succors. My father completely equipped and paid ten 
men, — six foot-soldiers and four horsemen. It would 
be difficult to compute the outlay for this force, ex- 
clusive of the cost of sixteen horses which he yielded 
for the service of the artillery, and which were sent into 
Germany, with the horses of other Italian noblemen. 

Notwithstanding his relations to the court and his 
intercourse with the great officers of the crown and the 
generals of the empire, — most of them sprung from the 
heart of the revolution and the bosom of secret socie- 
ties,— my father never belonged to a masonic lodge. 
Napoleon observed an exquisite simplicity of manner 
in his communication with the French and the Italian 
noblesse. He affected no arrogant airs and aristocratic 
lordliness. He was content with a retinue and neces- 


22 


LIONELLO. 


sary adornments. Noblemen, grouped around him, were 
like the pictures of Baphael, Titian, and Correggio, which 
are suspended from gilded panels in costly palaces, or 
like the long train of a court-lady’s amaranthine robe. 
My mother, descended from a patrician family of Venice, 
a stanch asserter of the grandeur of the doges and 
procurators of St. Mark, expressed stateliness in every 
word and movement ; but she possessed the art of 
qualifying, with feminine ease and grace and delicacy, 
a queenly carriage of nobility and high-toned propriety. 
Nevertheless, she was modest, pious, generous, — ever 
receiving with unaffected kindness the parish-priest or 
good ecclesiastic who came to expose to her the wants 
of an honest family, or poor girl, or infirm widow. At 
the ball and evening party, she outshone the ladies of 
her circle by the magnificence of her receptions. My 
father and mother educated me in this system of vain 
and ridiculous pageantry, and held me aloof from the 
inferior nobility and simple citizens. Had I been born 
ten years earlier, it might perhaps have been fortunate 
for me to escape the mischievous consequences of a 
training in the lyceums of Napoleon. The spirit which 
presided over these institutions was not always unex- 
ceptionable; the choice of students and masters was 
not, at times, determined by an examination sufficiently 
rigorous. But in 1820, Italy possessed excellent schools 
and colleges, in which science and letters were taught 
with all the advantages which result from the constant 
emulation, struggle, and contact of scholars distin- 
guished by different talents, characters, habits, man- 
ners, and tastes. 

In this respect the noble families of France, England, 
Spain,. Belgium, and Germany have more sense than 


CHILDHOOD. 


23 


ours ; for it is a sad spectacle to see the Italian noblesse 
addicted to indolence and frivolities, or enslaved by per- 
fidious conspirators who plunge them into the abyss of 
disorder and treasonable associations. I appeal to Italy 
to confirm the truth of my assertion. Where was the 
man among them, in 1847 and in 1848, to promote the 
welfare of the people? Pusillanimity, fears, fallacies, 
weak or malicious complicity with the conspirators, — 
this is the part which they played ! 

The nobles deplore the condition of Italy, subject to 
the resistless power of the people, who hold its des- 
tinies in their hands ; who agitate, overthrow, — trample 
the country under their feet. Whose fault is it? — the 
people’s? No! they are more to be pitied than con- 
demned. The fault lies with the Italian patricians, who, 
in the gloom of their old palaces, educate their sons 
like women, in idleness, effeminacy, foppery, and pride. 
Let them, if they wish to place their children on a level 
with the people, rear, fashion, and instruct them in the 
public arena of talent, science, and virtue. I will say, 
with Pandolph, “that a system of public education 
teaches youth in an admirable manner the proprieties 
of social life; surrounds them with examples to avert 
their hearts from vice ; places immediately under their 
eyes the rewards of honor, uprightness, glory united 
with justice and virtue; enables them to appreciate 
the delights of merited eulogy, of the esteem and 
distinction which recompense noble actions. Influ- 
enced by these considerations, the young are fired 
with emulation, and march on bravely in the path of 
duty which leads to renown and immortality.” Of 
what avail is an ardent and generous temper, if you 
educate your child in petticoats, under the care of a 


24 


LIONELLO. 


private tutor, — a family teacher? His spirit will lan- 
guish and decay in utter inability to aspire to grand 
and noble thoughts. 

During the long peace of the past century, whilst 
faith was still alive and vigorous in the heart of Italy, 
authority held sacred in the eyes of men, and the no- 
bility surrounded by the profound veneration, love, and 
gratitude of the inferior orders, domestic education, 
remote from the public gaze, might be defended on the 
ground that it was necessary, to maintain the reverence 
due to rank and birth. But, in the present condition 
of society, this system is no longer applicable. The 
nobles must signalize their merit, to win the esteem, 
respect, and confidence of the people. Whether they 
wish it or not, they are obliged, in a thousand circum- 
stances, to come in contact with the public. They are 
controlled by lawyers and physicians. A home-bred 
man is like a house-sparrow which ventures for the first 
time to fly in the garden. The attempt is so uncertain, 
distressing, and hazardous, that it is glad to light on 
the first roof it meets ; and whilst, out of breath, it 
strives to ply its wings again, the cat pounces upon it, 
plucks, and pitilessly devours its prey. 

Here is my history. I am quite sure that few young 
men will proceed so far as my self-will has carried me. 
Nevertheless, I design these memoirs of my wanderings 
and misfortunes as a beacon to point out the dangerous 
shoals which menace other imprudent youths like myself 
with a deplorable shipwreck. Oh, dear Josephine! why 
did I not listen to you ? — why did I not follow your advice 
whilst I still had time to repair my first faults? Who 
now will rescue me from this abyss ? — what means shall 
I employ to calm this remorse which agitates my soul? 


THE SERVANTS. 


25 


CHAPTER IV. 

THE SERVANTS. 

When I left the nursery, my mother gave me in 
charge to the aunt of her waiting-maid. She was a 
Friulian, an excellent creature. Hers was a com- 
plexion of the lily and the rose, — the Friulians have 
the healthiest blood in their veins, — a cheerfulness 
frank and loud, a heart open and generous, a tongue 
of unrestrained volubility, especially after she had 
taken half a glass of spirits. At such moments, if she 
had nobody else to talk to, she poured out upon me, in 
rich Venetian, apostrophes like these: “Oh, you sweet 
one! you precious! my heart’s pet! you pretty crea- 
ture! you darling, you! give me a kiss!” Then, seizing 
my cheeks and squeezing them between her hands, she 
pressed her lips to my pouting mouth with a smack so 
loud that the old housekeeper exclaimed, “ Gracious me ! 
what kisses ! Why, you make as much noise as Landro, 
the coachman, with his sneezings. But these Vene- 
tians” — 

“And pray, Mistress Bridget, what have you to say 
against the Venetians? Let me tell you,” — here she put 
me on a table covered with linen, and almost buried me 
in a mountain of sheets, — “let me tell you, the Vene- 
tians have tongues of gold, hearts of queens : they are 
types of fidelity. They have eyes, and don’t see ; ears, 
and don’t hear; tongues, and don't speak.” 

“ Oh, as for that last,” said the old woman, with a 

smile and a dry cough, “as for the tongue” 

3 


26 


LIONELLO. 


“ Yes, maam. Now, just listen. When I was in the 
family of his excellency, one of the Council of Ten, 
madam’s grandfather, that old big-wig that made all 
Venice tremble : — : ah ! he was a man, you know, — if you 
only could have seen him in his wrapper, as I’ve seen him 
often, sticking his hands in his sleeves : what a sight ! 
He called me and told me to hand the box of Cyprus 
powder to Menego, his valet. 

“ ‘ Teresa,’ said he, ‘you will inform her ladyship’ — 

“‘Yes, my lord.' 

“ ‘ You will inform her ladyship, my wife, that we will 
have at dinner, to-day, his excellency Signor Grande- 
nigo, his excellency Signor Morosin, and his excellency 
Signor Loredan.’ 

“ ‘ Has your lordship any more commands ?' 

“‘No.’ 

- “I was then only a slip of a girl, but as spry as a 
mouse ; and whilst Menego was busy in shaking over 
the old gentleman’s wig the Cyprus powder, like flakes 
of snow, (dear me, mistress Bridget, what creatures 
men are !) I went to inform the old lady, and then went 
back to my duties ; and, pshew ! I didn’t tell a word 
about the dinner to anybody but Zanetto, the waiter ; 
Baptista, and Togno, and Alvise, the cooks ; Procola, the 
butler ; Luzietta, our young lady’s waiting-maid — oh ! 
wasn’t she beautiful ! Ah ! let me tell you ; she was 
the mother of her ladyship, the countess. Bless me, 
mistress Bridget, what a figure she made ! she had her 
hair dressed almost a foot high. I’m not joking, you 
know ; for I measured it myself. And, dear me, Lu- 
zietta — she was a famous waiting-maid too. She was 
my niece, — yes ; but that’s neither here nor there. She 
knew what she was about : she was so handy. Some- 


THE SERVANTS. 


27 

times she fixed the lady countess’s hair in the fashion 
Maria Amelia, sometimes in the fashion Maria Luigia; 
and that is more difficult than the Sevign^ curls. But 
to come back to our old master and the dinner : I didn’t 
breathe a word about it. I just gave a hint to Miss 
Rosanna, who had charge of the table-linen, in order 
that she might bring out his excellency’s Flemish cloths 
and napkins, marked with his arms. He had table- 
cloths for twelve courses, for twenty-four, for thirty-six, 
and all of one piece. Then I spoke of it to Ninetta; 
and then” 

“And then, and then, and then,” cried the old house- 
keeper, with a husky voice, “you went blabbing it 
about the whole house.” 

Poor Margarita discovered that she had been too 
communicative, and merited the reply of Bridget. She 
took me off the pile of linen, which I had more or less 
deranged and rumpled, and carried me away in her 
arms, talking and chattering with everybody she met 
in the corridors and apartments of the women. Thus 
tattle is our first school, and, if it serves no other pur- 
pose, it loosens our tongues. We have reason to thank 
Providence for the result ; for, if we were not reared by 
women, we would run great risk of being dumb all our 
lives. In the morning, when Margarita had washed 
me, put on a clean bib, and nicely combed my hair, she' 
took me to my mother, who, in her morning gown, was 
getting her hair dressed by Bettina. 

“Oh, Hello, come, give mamma a kiss. My treasure! 
my little darling ! Margarita, did you make him say 
his prayers ?” 

“ Oh, yes, your ladyship : how could I forget that ? 
As for us Venetians, we are too good Christians, my 


28 


LIONELLO. 


lady, to neglect our duty. I don’t wish to boast, but 
you know, your ladyship, that it is our custom never to 
go out of the house without saying a Pater and an 
Ave; and then we go straight to mass at the church 
of our Lady of Safety. My poor good mother, when 
we were going to Frari, heard three masses every 
day.” 

“Very right, Margarita.” 

“ I make Nello say all the prayers I learned from my 
mother: the Angele Lei; the Lord , I thank you ; the 
Pequie; and then the Sacred Wounds , in Friulian. 
Oh, your ladyship, Nello puts them all together so 
nicely, you know, in Friulian and Venetian.” 

During this conversation, I was busy teasing the lap- 
dog, Thisbe, rummaging the toilet-table, and tossing 
about pomatum, tooth-brushes, sponges, ivory combs, 
nail-files, and the caskets in which my mother put her 
jewels every night. 

“ Nello, take care I Nello, don’t go there ! Nello, 
don’t touch that ! Why do you pinch poor little Thisbe? 
Come here, Thisbe: jump up on my lap. Margarita, 
take away the child.” 

Margarita took me into the garden. There I chased 
the butterflies, dipped my hands in the trench-rills 
made to water the lawns, amused myself by throwing 
dry leaves on the surface to see them float along, often 
waded about up to my knees, whilst Margarita was 
prating with the gardener or collecting a bouquet of 
roses for the madonna of the wardrobe. From the 
garden I passed to the stables ; and there a groom in a 
smock-frock lifted me up and put me on Sultan, or on 
Cossack , or on Zenohia, my mother’s white mare. Then 
I played with the horse’s mane, kicked its sides, told it 


THE SERVANTS. 


29 


to get along. Sometimes Margarita carried me to tlie 
kitchen, and let me put my fingers into the pies and 
sauces. By the time I had finished my rambling among 
the dishes and sauce-pans, my face and hands were in 
a sorry plight. Margarita everywhere found subjects 
for gossiping. She had a fund of tales, news, tattle, 
rumors, backbiting, and endless chit-chat; and when, 
thanks to me, she had pried into every thing, from the 
top of the house to the bottom, she went to the women's 
apartments, and there, especially during meals, opened 
her budget of news. 

Early in the evening the servants used to take a 
walk. When I was quite small, they carried me in 
their arms ; when I was five or six years old, I trudged 
along by their side. Sometimes I was dressed in the 
Greek fashion, with a handsome purple jacket; some- 
times as a little Mameluke, in braided clothes, yellow 
Turkish slippers, a red calbak, and a cimiter by my 
side ; sometimes in the Scotch highland garb, coat and 
bonnet of red and green plaid, with legs bare to the 
knees. In 1814, I figured as a voltigeur or dragoon, 
with a casque of tiger-skin ; in 1825, 1 was a Hungarian, 
Hulan, or Sclavonian hussar. On holidays, Margarita 
dressed in her green kirtle and plaited gown looked 
very well, in spite of her fifty odd years. She was 
quite conscious of this fact, and, consequently, on these 
occasions she moved along with a statelier pace, and 
forbade the footman to follow her but at the respectful 
distance of a couple of yards. I must not forget to add 
that she was often accompanied by one of the under- 
w r ardrobe maids, or the porter's daughter ; and, as she 
was outside of the city, she entered the village inn, 
played a game of cards, admitted Gaetano to her pre- 

3 *- 


30 


LIONELLO. 


sence, and graciously drank with him a small glass of 
liquor. 

When I had grown older, she passed me over to 
Bettina, her niece, who, in her capacity of my mother’s 
waiting-woman, dressed my sister Josephine, occasion- 
ally, as a peasant- girl, and took her out to walk. We 
played together in the meadows. Bettina had import- 
ant secrets to commurdcate to Carluccio, my father’s 
page, who, dressed in an English tight-bodied coat, a 
livery-hat, long horseman’s boots, and white Grenoble 
gloves, waited upon us, and carried under his arm my 
sister’s shawl and a gauze hoop-net to catch butterflies. 
Little attention is paid to children ; and yet the children 
of the rich are more liable to be corrupted than others, 
who are reared with a jealous and watchful solicitude 
under the immediate eyes of their parents, whilst the 
children of the nobility spend their childhood and part of 
their youth amid the dulness and frivolities of male and 
female servants. High-born ladies are very culpable 
in disencumbering themselves of all trouble and re- 
sponsibility, because their female attendants have been 
recommended by some worthy marchioness, or duchess, 
or dignified clergyman, or canon,, or even confessor. 
Servants are all alike. When they enter the family, 
they are good and artless ; but they are soon spoiled by 
the atmosphere of our palaces. Were they naturally 
the best people in the world, and remarkably modest, 
they would soon show their ignorance and narrow- 
mindedi prejudices, superstition, silliness, and tattling 
disposition. And yet these are the first instructors of 
our young nobles. I recollect that when I was little 
more than two feet high, I was told to kiss my hand to 
elderly females. I was imperious in my will and abso- 


THE SERVANTS. 31 

lute in my commands. At the age of six or seven 
years, I knew the extent of my father's possessions, 
and the amount of his revenues. I was able to number 
his estates, palaces, villas. I knew, too, every thing 
about the lives and deaths of my ancestors, and their 
wonderful deeds, as well as of my grandparents, uncles, 
aunts, and all my kindred to the third generation. I 
was no stranger to all the frolics of my father, from his 
childhood to the period of his marriage. 

When I flew into a passion, the aged domestic Oliva 
never failed to say, “Just like the count! positively 
his excellency over again! When he was ten years 
old, nobody could manage him except Don Ermenigildo. 
How often did he come to us in search of him, and say 
to me, in confidence; ‘Oliva, I am utterly at a loss 
what to do with this troublesome youngster.' And I 
replied ; ‘ Be patient, Don Ermenigildo : he won't be 
always a youngster. One of these days he is to be sole 
heir : he will be our master. You know well that he 
will succeed to two immense patrimonies, — that of 
Marquis Caesar, which is worth more than a hundred 
thousand sequins. Whew ! a mere trifle ! And then 
the palace on the square, and the castle, and the whole 
village, in which the ancient lords had the right of 
coining money and the jura sanguis* In a word, 
they were princes. And then the inheritance of Bali 
Mercantonio. Ah, Bali is the right measure ! Cheer 
up, Don Ermenigildo.’ Well, he took things quietly, 
and now he’s got a fat pension, a nice benefice worth 
one hundred and fifty crowns, board and lodging; 
whilst I, unlucky woman, here pshaw !” 

* The feudal right of barons, in the Middle Ages, of pronouncing 
sentence of death in their own courts,— jura sanguinis. 


32 


L I 0 N E L L 0. 


And then she turned to me, and, lpssing my hand, 
said, with tears in her eyes ; “ Master Lionello, you 
will one day have all that; but may God preserve his 
excellency, the most illustrious count, your father, for 
a thousand years longer! I meant, by what I said, 
Do you see that portrait ? — that’s the Marquis Csesar’s : 
and that in the red dress, with a cross on the breast, — 
that’s Bali Mercantonio’s.” 

Margarita could not resist the temptation to edge in 
a word. 

“My dear Oliva, all that is a trifle,” she exclaimed : 
“a trifle to the bulk of his property at Venice. The 
little count’s grand-uncle is full eighty years old, and 
unmarried. At his death the whole fortune will pour 
into the hands of the countess and Nello. That’s just as 
clear as the sun. A grand palace on the canal, another 
near St. Paul’s, and, on the mainland, estates, rivers, rice 
plantations, and studs. Momolo, the footman, told me 
that a pigeon couldn’t fly over the whole of it in a day. 
Only think of that, Oliva, — the flight of a pigeon ! And 
then the villa of Strata, and another of Mira, and im- 
perial palaces ! One of them has as many windows as 
there are days in the year, a whole army of statues on 
the roofs, in the balconies and vestibules, mirrors in 
which I could see myself from head to foot, and, bless 
me ! sights of all kinds to make one’s head turn, — of 
silver, of gold, of flambeaux, of stables for sixty 
horses, which you would take for churches, the Lord 
forgive me ! And all that is to be Master Nello’s ! Oh, 
Master Nello will be so rich ! He kissed his hand to 
me. He will remember Margarita, won’t he? Poor 
Margarita, who carried him so often in her arms!” 

Can you suppose that the pride of my _young heart 


THE SERVANTS. 


33 


would not be stimulated by all this adulation? Another 
fact is to be noted. The grand-daughters of Oliva, my 
father’s nurse, of Nunziata, my grandmother’s waiting- 
maid, of Bridget, the housekeeper, and other female 
domestics, were brought from the women’s apartments 
to see me. These girls, at first, were scared at my 
approach, but their grandmothers and grand-aunts said 
to them; “Go kiss the little count’s hand.” At some I 
made ugly faces, pinched them, or gave them slaps; 
others, to whom I took a fancy, I caressed ; with the 
youngest I romped and engaged in all kinds of plays. 
This continued till I was ten, eleven, twelve years old, 
— even after I had been put under a preceptor. 

As to my mother, whenever the arch-priest or a 
religious came to pay her a visit, she never wearied in 
my praises, even before my face : — “ Thank God, Lio- 
nello is amiable, open-hearted, and inclined to piety. 
He has not lost his baptismal innocence : he is as pure 
as an angel. In this house he runs no risk, he has 
intercourse with no one. His cousins sometimes come 
here, but Lionello is always with his teacher, or with 
the governess, who is a worthy, discreet, and shrewd 
woman, — a practical Catholic, too; and she speaks 
French and English.” 

My mother, as a great lady, rarely left her splendid 
apartments ; and when she did occasionally quit them, 
the valets gave the signal, and order, propriety, and 
silence awaited her approach. She was totally igno- 
rant of the dangers with which I was surrounded, of 
the fatal germs of every vice flung into my soul with 
the promise of a deplorable fruitfulness. Servants fos- 
ter and strengthen the nascent passions in our breasts, 
especially vanity, pride, boastfulness, disdain, — without 


34 


LIONELLO. 


speaking of baser propensities which multiply in the 
heart of childhood in the company of servants, who, 
exclusive of fulsome flattery, are, for the most part, 
a lying, dissolute, deceitful, tale-bearing, revengeful 
class. 

The young noble grows up in the midst of these evil 
spirits, like the lion’s whelp, among the scullions and 
dainties of the kitchen, where he loses his native no- 
bleness, generosity, and worth. A youth reared in the 
society of women is subjected to an influence which 
stifles in his bosom, the vigorous and masculine virtues 
of a good citizen. 

In this female school I learned lessons of vanity, 
and all the indecencies, the shameful and criminal in- 
trigues, which are to be found in great houses. I often 
met in the clothes-apartments, where I idled away 
much of my time, the female friends and relations of 
our domestics. They were family servants in the 
houses of our nobles ; and when they visited ours there 
was an endless babble, gossiping, and slander. 

“ Why, Chicca, what have you been doing with your- 
self all this time ?” said Oliva, Dorotea, and Munzuita. 
“It is an age since we saw you.” 

“Ah! it is no wonder. We have been plunged in a 
sea of troubles.” 

“Indeed! Why, what has happened? Has Donna 
Teresina had any more convulsions ? Poor girl ! It 
breaks one’s heart to see one so sweet and modest, so 
afflicted. I fear very much that she will never be able 
to marry; and she so much in love with her Orazio!” 

“The misfortune don’t concern Teresina. A body 
may tell you every thing ; you have a guard on your 
mouth ; and we are old friends.” 


THE SERVANTS. 


35 


“ Oh, as for that” 

“Well, last Thursday — yes — no — ah! stop! what a 
fool I am ! I intended to say Saturday, — last Saturday, 
our lady went to take her usual ride with Donna Tere- 
sina, and Agnoletta, who, you know, is now in her six- 
teenth year.” 

“Indeed!” exclaimed Oliva: “it seems as if it was 
only yesterday that she was born. Many a time I took 
her in my arms, when you brought her here. She was 
a nice little girl.” 

“Now, Agnoletta*' wan ted to get out of the carriage 
last, and Pepetto, as he helped her to alight, slipped a 
note into her hand; but the blockhead (couldn’t he 
have looked for a better chance?) did it so awkwardly 
that the marchioness saw it all. But she didn’t appear 
to notice it. However, as they were going up the 
second flight of stairs, she suddenly seized Agnoletta’s 
hand, and jerked the note away from her. The poor 
girl almost fainted ; she could scarcely breathe, and say, 
with a broken voice, ‘Oh, mamma!’ The marchioness 
went straight to her chamber, and came back to Agno- 
letta like a fury. 1 Go to your room, miss.’ She rings 
for Felicita. What else am I to tell you ? Agnoletta 
runs to me, throws herself into my arms, and bursts 
into tears. Donna Teresina, who knew nothing about 
it, was terrified.” 

“And then what happened?” 

“You shall hear. Pepetto received, in the presence 
of the marchioness, two terrible blows of a horsewhip, 
and a kick — you know where. Only think; he has five 
children, and they have now no support. So much for 
playing the fool. Ah, it is no laughing-matter to trifle 
with the nobles.” 


36 


LIONELLO. 


“But does anybody know who sent the note?” 

“ Why, that’s plain enough. It was an officer, who” — 
And then Chicca continued her tale of scandal through 
the whole evening. The other women contributed their 
respective shares in commentaries. They spoke of the 
Marchioness Bice, who had been caught behind a screen ; 
of another, who, at the moment of taking her father’s 
hand, threw a ball to her lover, containing a note; of 
another, who slipped love-letters between the leaves of 
her music-book, which her instructor gave to the Baron 
Lamberto. And thus I was initiated in all the schemes 
and intrigues of young ladies of noble families. 

On another occasion, Dame Fortunata came to per- 
form her part. After an avalanche of talk and tattle 
about the gentlemen, her masters, and about her fellow- 
servants, she reports the manoeuvres of several young 
ladies of high rank, who, on vigils, holidays, and at 
balls, were remarked for their beauty, grace, and in- 
discretions. It was a minute description of personal 
failings, deceit and devices accomplished by the aid of 
seamstresses ; or, a complete treatise on fashions, and 
secret arts of the toilet to fabricate charms or disguise 
deformities by the help of hoops, pads, and corsets. 

“Now, let me tell you, — I am called a name which 
means fortunate ; but I had better been named Dame 
Unfortunate . I am worried out of my life by one of 
the most whimsical ladies. She is caprice, oddity, per- 
sonified ; she don’t give any one about the house time 
to breathe. And that poor Clarissa, (dear Lord ! it gives 
me the horrors to think of it!) how cruelly they treat 
her! They called in an ortopaist,* — just imagine it. 
The marchioness has had an iron bedstead made, and 


Orthopaidist, from the Greek opdog , straight, and 7rmf, child. 


THE SERVANTS. 


37 


obliges the poor girl to stretch herself upon it. Then, 
with iron machines, the doctor fastens her tight, squeezes 
her feet and shoulders, and keeps her there as if she 
was nailed to a cross. It is a perfect torture to look at 
her. I am ordered to give her drink ; for she cannot 
move a finger herself. And she looks at me so pitifully 
that it cuts me to the very heart. Every morning, I 
must bind her in a steel corset with rings, clasps, and 
bars ; and there she is inside, as fast as a bolt slid in 
the staples!” 

“ Bless my soul! you don’t tell me so! And will she 
be straight, after she has been thus cased and covered 
with iron?” 

“Not very likely, in my opinion,” said Fortunata. 
“ It is just the plans of those doctors to make martyrs 
of the nobles, and extort money from them. But, after 
all — after all, old friend, between ourselves, what is bred 
in the bone is as hard to cure as it is to straighten the 
neck of a glass decanter.” 

“What abominable inventions!” exclaimed the aged 
Bridget. “ The grandmother of our little count, with 
her big farthingales, was as straight as an arrow. Now- 
a-days they won’t let you swathe infants ; and what’s 
the consequence ? They are crooked. Our old folks, 
in former times, had more sense.” 

Often we had servants to visit ours, whose tongues, 
like vipers’, poisoned every thing they breathed upon. 
What chronicles came out of these archives! — what 
commentaries, and exaggerations, and caricatures ! And 
our great ladies persuade themselves that their waiting- 
women neither hear nor see ! I should like to see them 
listening to their servants for a short half-hour : they 
would learn a good lesson, to their cost. 

4 


38 


LIONELLO. 


But how can we, raised in the midst of this turmoil 
of mean, bad passions, retain the sentiments of honor- 
able and Christian men ? The nobles of inferior con- 
dition, who have reared their children under their own 
eyes, do not risk so much in intrusting them to masters 
injudiciously chosen. But the higher nobles expose 
themselves to irreparable mischiefs. I will sound it in 
the ears of Italy and all Europe, that the cause of all 
my misfortunes may be traced to the women’s apart- 
ments. If any escape from these dangers, and from 
destruction, it is by a miracle ; if others are reclaimed 
at a later day, it is only after long and painful efforts. 
Parents ought not to jeopard, in this manner, the hap- 
piness of their children. 


CHAPTER V. 

THE PRECEPTOR. 

When I was ten years old, my parents determined 
to assign me a tutor. My father’s friends importuned 
him not to hamper himself with priests. “ Priests are. a 
clownish, uncouth class of men, a sort of bears just out 
of their forest dens. What a ridiculous figure they 
would make in a splendid mansion, distinguished by its 
air of elegance and haut ton, its numerous circles of 
noble gentlemen, its joyous, brilliant, frequent assem- 
blies, its magnificent balls and banquets ! The presence 
of such a bore would infect his palace, cast a gloom on 
his fetes, annoy his guests, in the city and in the 
country. No, no : he should not harbor such a thought. 


THE PRECEPTOR. 


39 


Why not select a young Parisian, a graduate of the 
Polytechnic School ? Under his tuition, Lionello would 
be fashioned into an intelligent and high-spirited gen- 
tleman, with easy and courtly manners.” 

These sage counsellors were Orients, Areopagists, 
standard-bearers, — the very 61ite of the masonic lodges. 
To this proposition my mother, as a prudent and pious 
matron, was decidedly opposed. She declared that such 
a course would rob her of all peace of conscience. “ Who 
knows,” she argued, “ the character of such a master, 
or his trustworthiness and morals? No, no: it will 
never suit. Lionello will be exposed to many dangers. 
Josephine’s governess, her teachers in music and 
dancing, are unquestionably modest, reserved, respect- 
able females, — but they are young. Our first considera- 
tion must be to guard against scandals. Leave then 
the arrangement to me. I have warm friends at Flo- 
rence, Sienna, and Pome, who will interest themselves 
in the matter, and engage for us the services of a pious 
and accomplished priest, of gentlemanly mien and grace- 
ful manners. When you propose to invite a large 
party, especially of your friends and lady foreigners, 
the priest will dine in his own room, with the gov- 
erness and Nello and Josephine. Take my advice, 
Achilles. For God’s sake do not introduce into the 
family, so dangerous a system. You know what a 
worthless preceptor the Duchess Julia engaged for her 
son, and how dearly she had to pay for her mistake ; 
and you have not forgotten, too, the troubles of the 
Marchioness Irene.” 

Finally she prevailed, and the priest came. He was 
a young man, twenty-eight years old, — tall, handsome, 
portly, with plump hands and a well-shaped leg. He 


40 


LIONELLO. 


wore a splendid ring on his finger. My father said to 
him, in my presence; “Don Giulio, you understand, I do 
not wish you to appear in your cassock. Wear it at 
mass, of course; but at other times I will be pleased to 
see you dressed in a fine coat, with a black cravat 
edged with white, an open vest, silk stockings, and 
gold-buckle shoes. In a word, you will show yourself 
as a priest mingling in good society. Accept this 
trifle to meet your first expenses." And he slipped 
into his hand a rouleau of Napoleons. 

Don Giulio was an excellent priest and scholar, well 
intentioned, and zealous for my improvement. But 
his pupil was volatile, overbearing, frivolous, affected, 
effeminate, — idle, lazy, spiritless, whenever he had to 
look at a book. Josephine’s governess had taught me 
to read and write passably; for she was remarkable for 
her elegant penmanship. I began to speak English 
and French with her and Josephine, rather from 
practice than rule. 

You can conceive the wearisome life of my tutor. 
The school-room was in a remote part of the palace; 
and we were almost entirely alone. A valet was in 
waiting in the ante-room. Stretched in an old leathern 
chair, he lounged the greater part of the day, some- 
times spelling his way through Guerin Meschino or the 
legendary of the Virgins, sometimes chewing a crust 
of bread as a preparation for a drink. During the 
first months, the priest, after having said mass, before I 
got up, spent the entire morning with me until lunch. 
Then he conversed with my mother; whilst I beguiled 
the time in the servants’ hall, in the coach-house, in 
the stables with the coachman and groom, and more 
frequently in the women’s apartments. Don Giulio 


TIIE PRECEPTOR. 


41 


gave me some knowledge of Latin nouns and verbs; 
he taught me a little sacred and profane history. He 
required me to recite at supper some fables of Pignotti 
and Clasio, some anacreontic odes of Viterolli, in a 
kind of competition with my sister, — who, to tell the 
truth, profited more by her lessons and recited them 
more gracefully. 

Don Giulio in the course of time formed the acquaint- 
ance of a priest, a fellow-tutor in a noble family. "VVe 
often met him in our walks, and a young poet, with 
whom my tutor, himself a votary of the muses, joined 
in agreeable conversation. Unused to the sports of 
boyhood, I was heartily tired of solitude. I accord- 
ingly spent most of my time in the room of old 
Silvestro, who had an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes 
to tell me about my ancestors. He often spoke of the 
journey of Joseph II., who had stopped at our house. 

“Ah, most illustrious count, you should have seen 
the palace at that time. Why, it was a royal palace. 
It was plain enough that the emperor congratulated 
himself on having chosen it in preference to others. 
In this part of the house lodged a big, fat general, a 
man as large as that [here he made a sweep with his 
hands in form of a circle] ; and in this room were two 
Hungarian ordnance-officers, whom I served with wine. 
I think I see them now, coming in and putting their 
sabres there in the corner and hanging up their furred 
overcoats on pegs in the wardrobe.” 

“And the emperor — tell me, did you see him?” 

“Did I see him? Just as much as I see you before 
me. Wasn’t he a handsome man! so tall, and his hair 
so nicely curled about his ears and whitened with 
Cyprus powder. He wore scarlet breeches laced with 

4* 


42 


LI0NELL0. 


gold; a white coat with large flaps and a red posy 
worked on it. And the golden fleece which dangled 
from his neck as he got out of the carriage! It was 
as big as my finger ; and I am sure it weighed fifty 
sequins. Your grandfather the count, the owner of 
this palace, had on, when he went down-stairs to receive 
the .emperor, a wig higher than that of the portrait, 
with three bows, and curls hanging on his shoulders. 
Ah! those were the wigs! And then — oh, yes — he 
was finer dressed than the emperor." 

“Fudge!" 

“Eh! Fudge, my fine little count? Let me tell 
you, your grandfather wore a splendid robe of gold 
brocade; and the buttons, as big as crown pieces, were 
glittering with diamonds. The coronet of her excel- 
lency the lady countess, your mother, is made of these 
precious stones, you know, — and the ear-rings, and 
the hair-pins, and the rose diamond ; and all those 
gems were on the buttons. The buttons of his crimson 
velvet vest were pearls; pearls like hazel-nuts. And 
the buckles of his shoes! Filigreed gold, with a large 
brilliant as big as my finger-nail in each of the four 
corners. Now count : four in each buckle : that makes 
eight. Eight diamonds ! They belonged to a snuff- 
box, which Francis I., husband of Maria Theresa, gave 
to your great-grandfather on his passage into Tus- 
cany." As he mentioned this name, Silvestro took off 
his cap and made a half-genuflection. 

“In what room of the palace did the emperor 
lodge?" 

“In the yellow chamber. As soon as your grand- 
father learned the emperor’s intention to stop here, he 
ordered that large purple bed, those great golden 


THE PRECEPTOR. 


43 


gauze draperies, and the coverlet of the deepest ver- 
milion with the Imperial arms embroidered on it. 
The pall of the Rosary Society is not so rich as that. 
Three emperors have slept in that bed : Joseph II. ; 
then Napoleon; and, last of all, our emperor Francis I., 
four years ago.” 

“ Oh, yes, I recollect : I was then five and a half years 
old. He petted me, and gave me a kiss." 

“He gave me something better than that: he made 
me a present of five sequins." 

“Who? the Emperor Joseph?" 

“ I will tell you all about it. I was not then exactly 
one of the servants. I was a poor foundling ; and some 
charitable Christians gave me enough bread to save me 
from starving. On the arrival of the emperor, this 
palace was a regular sea-port: people were gathered 
here from all quarters, a going and a coming, without 
knowing where to find a bed. They slept even in the 
porch of the domestics. In all this confusion, Master 
Lorenzo, a good soul, happened to see me, and told me 
to turn the spit in the kitchen. I had to mind the 
quarters and hinds of beef, the shoats, and the turkeys. 
This was not a mouthful for his majesty. We had two 
French coachmen, Mr. de Tortale, Mr. Rambiscot. 
Fine gentlemen, they, — two Gunymedes: hem! They 
made the other waiters jump about; but they took 
good care to do nothing themselves. They always 
wore gloves, — Naples straw-colored gloves, to be sure ! 
They did nothing but sing out, ‘Didon, come here; 
Didon, go there/ ‘The deuce! this cream is stale/ 
‘Hang it! that cream is too thin/ But the repasts 
your excellency, the repasts : weren't they fine, — deli- 
cious ?" 


44 


LIONELLO. 


“ And the sequins ?” 

“ Master Lorenzo — may he rest in peace ! — gave me 
fine wages : twenty cents a day, and a crown after the 
departure of the emperor. Then he hired me as a 
scullion. At the death of Nanetto, I was made fourth 
waiter at table ; because, you see, I was a handsome 
young fellow in my time; and your grandfather, when 
he rode to the city, often ordered me to attend him, — 
three miles to go. But what’s that ? I went over it at 
a stretch. Your grandfather rode with a chariot-and- 
six, with lackeys in front blowing the trumpet. Maccio, 
the stupid fellow, went with us sometimes ; but he had 
to use whip and spur. But I — ah, I gave my horse the 
start, and then I was off like a hare.” 

“You must have arrived at the city puffing and out 
of breath.” 

“You think so ? When I put on my green sugar- 
loaf hat, with the silver arms of his excellency in front, 
my tight coat with large flaps, and the sky-blue scarf, 
my muslin pantaloons and red shoes, I would have out- 
run a deer. Then, with a straw in my mouth to breathe 
through, and my silver-headed cane in my hand, I had 
plenty of fun in laughing at Maccio. When he arrived, 
his six horses were steaming and all covered with 
foam; whilst, for me, a shake, a bottle of wine, and I 
was all right. To tease my companions, I whirled, 
danced about, and cut a caper before them; and they 
cried out, ‘Oh, very well: just wait till we are return- 
ing: then you’ll see.’ ” 

“ Did my grandfather give you any thing?” 

“ Ah ! the Lord bless him. After every ride he 
gave me a five-franc piece. But men have changed 
now-a-days : the old stock’s gone. Napoleon abolished 


THE PRECEPTOR. 


45 

all our good usages. But it wouldn’t do to trifle with 
your grandfather. Look out, if he was nettled. He was 
very amiable — as sweet as a sugar-cake — generally; 
but saucy fellows he ordered to be bastinadoed. The 
police didn’t dare show their faces near the railing of 
the villa. They passed by very modestly, and as far 
off as possible ; and ill luck to them if they ventured 
to pry into the alleys of the park, or shoulder their 
muskets. No : arms reversed ; that was the word — or 
let them look out. We had plenty of dare-devils in the 
palace : in fact, they were bandits. But here they were 
as safe as in a bronze fortress. All the workmen were 
fugitives from justice. One winter I counted more 
than sixty poor devils who had got into scrapes by 
pillaging vineyards, &c.” 

“ But wouldn’t they do some injury to grandfather?” 

“ Not they, — no more than to their own father. And 
the archers were exactly the same. The first time they 
passed, after they had beaten some poor devil and 
broken his bones, the corporal stepped forward and 
began in the middle of the avenue to bow and humbly 
ask the favor of kissing the hand of his excellency. 

“‘Let him enter,’ said the count. And then our 
man came up and paid his respects. The count rang 
for Fracasso; and when Fracasso appeared, he said, 

‘ Go, bring in those young men. Tell the cook to get 
ready for them some sausages, ham, Lodi cheese, bread, 
and wine.’ Fracasso jumped to give the orders. ‘Come, 
comrades, come and take a drink.’ After his lunch, the 
count went down to see these lads, and the archers 
bowed like lambs, and cried out, ‘Long life to your 
excellency !’ The master gave two sequins to the cor- 


46 


LIONELLO. 


poral, and said, 1 Here is something for you to get some 
brandy.’ ” 

“ But when these outlaws went into the city, did the 
archers seize them?” 

“ Not a bit of it : they knew better than that. The 
count gave them to understand clear enough that if 
they ever put their hands on his men he would make 
them give them up. He had around him plenty of 
fighters, pikemen, musketeers, who would get them 
free. The tocsin-bell of the castle was rung, the count’s 
people rose in a body and attacked the police. All the 
bravos of Count Robert and Baron Hercules hurried up 
from different directions, and made a terrible uproar, 
Signor Nello. The chief and the captain of police got 
out of the way in a hurry, with the cry ; 1 Let every 
man save his own skin.’ Ah ! those were glorious 
times. Now gendarmes no longer pay any respect to 
the rights of the nobles.” 

“ Well, a’n't that best?” 

“Best, do you say? I beg your pardon, my little 
master : you are not a man yet, and don’t see these 
things right. Best, do you say ? You don’t know how 
the simple name of the count made everybody tremble. 
People at a distance looked at the castle with fear and 
respect. If a man in a night-quarrel chanced to stab 
another, he had only to touch the ring of the portal, 
and he was safe. I once had to take care of a dozen 
of tljpves in the coach-houses ; and during the night 
they were sent up to the villa. There they were con- 
cealed in a huge iron vessel. I remember the case of 
Ceccone, the tavern-keeper. He looked like a bull. He 
killed his wife, and was caught in the act. The police 
were after him, and, as the chief was about to seize 


THE PRECEPTOR. 


47 

him, Ceccone made a spring and escaped to the palace, 
crying out, ‘ Noble house !’ and the gendarmes and 
their leader were obliged to return chapfallen to the 
court/’ 

“ But that was abominable injustice, to protect male- 
factors. How could my grandfather do so ?” 

“Your grandfather maintained his dignity; he 
wished it to be respected; he wished this before all 
things and above all things. He made justice respect- 
able, but always by defending the weak against the 
strong ; that is, some poor devils who had committed 
some fault rather through impulse and passion than 
through cold and calculating malice. And then, when 
he ascertained their crime, he often gave them up to 
justice. Do you know what kind of folks he refused to 
harbor ?” 

“ Murderers, of course.” 

“ No ; but robbers. Oh ! there was no quarter for 
robbers. One evening, when we were in the country, 
he did an odd thing. I cannot help laughing whenever 
I think of it. It was in October. The count was at 
the villa. He was fond of hunting, and a large number 
of gentlemen were out after hares. They had already 
killed twenty, and were returning with merry peals 
and windings of the horn. The huntsmen followed, 
each with two hares on his shoulders and two hounds 
in the leash. Suddenly, at an opening of the park, a 
curial rushed among them, and cried out, ‘Save me, 
your excellency/ The count placed him in the midst 
of attendants, and made a sign to Trombone, one of his 
bravos. He flew across the park, and gave the order 
to his comrades to be on the alert. 

“After breakfast, the count summoned the curial to 


48 


LIONELLO. 


his presence, and questioned him about the cause of his 
difficulties. He saw that the fellow was dodging about 
in his answers, and suspected him at once of being 
a knave and a robber. The pitiful scamp made the 
most of his misfortune. He began to detail his thou- 
sand and one exploits. Once during the night he had 
routed the whole band of archers ; he had made mince- 
meat of a bravo, and with a blow of his fist settled one 
of his companions who came to avenge him. In the 
morning there was no bounds to his boasting. He 
was not the man to tremble even before half a dozen 
of adversaries; he had arrested a soldier; he had 
pulled the steward’s son off his horse, and daubed him 
with mud from head to foot ; and a thousand other 
similar brags. The master was indignant, and now, 
looking on him as a cheat and an impostor, he resolved 
to give him a hard lesson. In the evening, therefore, 
whilst he was playing a game of ombre with the Vis- 
countess Matilda, the Marquis Orlando, and the field- 
marshal’s lady, a page brought a despatch. The curial 
was by, and looked keenly at the two large seals. The 
count opened and read the contents, stretched his eyes, 
pressed his lips, shook his head, put the despatch in 
his pocket, and continued the game. But he blun- 
dered terribly, and his partner, the viscountess, said to 
him; ‘What is the matter, count? You are quite ab- 
sent-minded.’ ‘Yes, a little;’ and he went on with 
the cards, but with the grossest mistakes. 

“‘For goodness’ sake’, she exclaimed, at last, ‘do tell 
us what mystery is under all this.’ 

“‘Well, my dear lady, how could it be otherwise? 
This letter has upset me entirely. Such an indignity] 
In my own house, too, — to a man like me ! No, I’ll never 


TIIE PRECEPTOR. 49 

submit to it.’ Then he called the seneschal, and mut- 
tered, ‘We will see.’ 

“ ‘ But tell me what has happened/ exclaimed the 
good lady, in her astonishment. 

“ ‘What has happened? The supreme court has sent 
me orders to surrender into its hands, our curial who 
is standing here. Mine is a free house, an inviolable 
asylum, an abode sacred to hospitality. If they are 
to get him, it shall be piecemeal, never entire.' 

“ ‘Ladies, let me beg you to withdraw to your rooms.; 
Do not be alarmed at the firing which you will hear. 
We intend to make a stout defence; and this Fran- 
cesco is so brave, so gallant, so used to this kind of 
affairs, that he is a host in himself.’ 

“The ladies asked, entreated, conjured the count, for 
God’s sake and the sake of wife and children and 
family, not to plunge into this desperate enterprise. 

“‘This is not the time to think of wife and children. 
My honor is at stake, and at its bidding we must 
sacrifice every thing.’ 

“ The poor curial shook as if he had the intermittent 
fever. He was pale, haggard, crest-fallen. ‘ I beg your 
excellency not to let me be the cause of this terrible 
work. Let the domestics hide me in the stable under 
a pile of straw or a bundle of hay : I don’t care which.’ 

“‘Come on!’ cried the count; ‘this is to be a des- 
perate fight.’ 

“Just then the steward arrived. 

“‘How many guns have you in the armory?’ 

“ ‘About fifty, your excellency, — besides falconets and 
other pieces of artillery, mounted arquebuses, basilisks, 
mortars, and small-arms, guns and pistols.’ 

“ ‘Assemble immediately the park-keepers, the hunts- 

5 


50 


LIONELLO. 


men, the rural guard, and those cowardly knaves, 
Fracasso, Trombone, Corso, Grello, Drago, Sgozzone, the 
ribald Pipello, and the swaggering Peloro. Cheer up. 
Put them at the loop-holes. Send Spadacosta to scout 
about the extremities of the garden and drive off any 
one prowling there. Baccala will mount guard at the 
park-railing.’ 

“‘Has your excellency any other commands?’ 

“ ‘ Give Francesco a blunderbuss. He will be posted 
at the front terrace.’ 

“‘Fire away, Francesco: fire right at any one who 
approaches, even if it is the chief himself.’ 

“Then he cried to the page, ‘Bring me my carbine.’ 

“ The palace, my little count, looked like the fortress 
of Buda. The bravos hurried to and fro, up-stairs and 
down-stairs, armed themselves with pistols and guns, 
dragged along small pieces of ordnance, culverins, and 
all sorts of ugly cannon. 

“The count had in secret given the countess the clew 
to all this mystification, and allowed her to communi- 
cate it to the other ladies. He had placed a band with 
the steward, who were to fire in front of the railing. 

“‘To arms! to arms! to your posts! Here’s the 
enemy ! here are the gendarmes ! Fall upon them ! cut 
them down !” 

“ At these cries, mingled with volleys, the curial felt 
a cold sweat running down his back. Scared to death, 
he whirled around. His knees trembled, his teeth 
chattered, his hair got on an end. He espied a small 
opening somewhere, and darted at it, — then a winding 
stairway, and up he flew, knocking his head against the 
wall at every turn. The stairway led to a kind of lumber- 
room, in which there was a medley of old iron, old coats, 


THE PRECEPTOR. 51 

old mats, which were used to cover the garden-beds in 
winter. He squatted under them the best he could. 

“After these grand operations, the count dismissed 
his attendants, and went to describe this ridiculous 
adventure to the ladies. They laughed heartily at the 
recital. Ah ! the count was the man to manage such 
things when he chose. 

“Supper was rung, and the curial was among the 
missing. The servants called him, searched for him 
everywhere. They concluded he had got out of a win- 
dow and escaped. About the middle of the next day 
I went to the lumber-room to get some twine. I heard 
something move. I pushed it with hand and foot, 
thinking it was a dog or cat. I heard a stifled groan. 
‘ Who’s there?’ I said. ‘It is I.’ ‘Who’s that?’ 
‘Francesco.’ And little by little the poor devil crawled 
up, covered with dust and spiders’ webs. Ah ! it was 
rare sport for the stable-boys when they saw him. 

“Well, my little count, you see your grandfather 
was good-humored. By this bit of fun he showed what 
he would do if he was in earnest. 

“When you grow up, your excellency, don’t forget 
to make people respect you.” 

Thanks to these fine lessons, my childish vanity in- 
creased daily, and in the narratives of old Andrea, it 
found fresh nourishment. After breakfast or dinner, 
when my tutor was playing billiards with my father 
and some friends, I left the hall, with Josephine, to 
ramble about the garden, play in the walks, cull 
flowers, climb the pear-trees, and get fruit. 

More frequently, however, Josephine chatted with 
her instructress. Then I stole into the shrubbery, 
where Cristofano was fixing his cages, feeding the 


52 


LIONELLO. 


thrushes with bread pellets and worms, filling their 
cisterns with fresh water, and arranging his bird-lime 
nets. Here I generally found Andrea, the old hunts- 
man. Too old now to superintend the hounds, he 
came to assist the fowler and while away the hours 
with tales of remarkable incidents in his hunts with 
my grandfather. He told of the roe which, to escape 
the fangs of the whole pack in close pursuit, sprang 
down a precipice; of the stag which, bounding back on 
its course, in direct aim of the count, received the fatal 
load of his carbine; of hosts of smaller game, hares, 
foxes, partridges, slain by the same unerring weapon. 

The old man was wont to brighten at the sight of 
me, and cry out; “Ah! look here, your excellency: I 
was the one who put the first load in the carbine of 
your father the count. He was then only a little 
taller than you. Your grandfather put him under my 
care to teach him how to shoot. Ah! wasn’t he a 
roguish young gentleman? We had in the castle 
twelve couples of brach-hounds, — twenty -four to trail, 
start, and seize the game. That devil of a youngster 
(pardon the expression) hadn’t his match. He beat up 
every spot on the mountain, until late in the evening. 
He was a capital shot : he made the hares tumble down 
gloriously ; and the little count was never tired. A crust 
in his game-pouch and a flask of wine — that was enough 
for him. But at supper, ah! he ate like a real hunter.” 

“And how many did he kill?” 

“Sometimes six, sometimes seven. We had pointers 
for woodcocks, and water-dogs for the duck and snipe 
of the rice-lands.” 

“Where are those rice-lands?” 

“In the family property at Mantua. Dear me! 


THE PRECEPTOR. 


53 


what riches, palaces, porticos, warehouses! And all 
that, your excellency, will one day be yours. It would 
he hard to find so wealthy a house as yours. Two 
hundred horses for the working of the rice-plantations, 
and plenty of others, to harness to the chariot, to drag 
the canal-boats, and serve the keepers. And the 
bags of sovereigns, sequins, doubloons, from the crops ! 
All that will be in your hands.” 

“ What did my grandfather do with so many sequins ?” 

“ Do with them, sir count? Why, he spent them finely, 
and made others spend them. Look, now ; at the Car- 
nival he spent ten thousand sequins for entertain- 
ments, balls, concerts, decorations, theatres. The stay 
in the country during May and October cost enormous 
sums. Musicians came from a great distance with 
ladies and gentlemen, to recite the Merope of Scipio 
Maffei and the comedies of Goldoni. And the costumes 
of velvet and gold — weren’t they superb? And then 
the gathering of noblemen who came to join in the 
hunt and banquet every day in the palace. In fine, 
your grandfather (the Lord rest his soul!) played a 
good deal. After supper he kept at faro till midnight. 
The valets of the visiting noblemen said to me, ‘ My 
master last night lost seven hundred sequins.’ ‘ Mine, 
three hundred.’ 'Mine won twelve hundred.’ That 
was a mere nothing. I knew a count who was an ex- 
cellent hunter, but a poor player. He came here to 
lose his patrimony. Having no more money to stake, 
and unable to wager his palace, which was entailed, in 
one night he gambled away the tiles, gutters, and 
finally the roof. What an idea ! I have seen that roof- 
less chateau with my own eyes; and the son of that 
count, when he grew up, was compelled, in his 

5 '* 


same 


LIONELLO. 


54 

hopeless state, to enlist in the body-guard of Napoleon, 
the First Consul.”* 

After this long gossip, Andrea placed himself astride 
a bench opposite to Cristofano and played cards until 
evening. They taught me how to play ; and at twelve 
I had by stealth some games with old Silvestro. Would 
to God I had never set my eyes on cards ! 

The other servants, coachmen, grooms, were ever 
prating about the wealth and greatness of my parents. 
This class of people can conceive no other source of 
happiness but riches and honors ; and they consider the 
power to gratify one's tastes, to triumph in displays 
and rivalries, as the only enviable lot. A word about 
the good qualities or virtues of my ancestors, I never 
heard. Doubtless subject to the weaknesses of humanity 
and the vices of high estate, they were not devoid of 
generosity, loyalty, courage, and devotion to the public 
welfare. They patronized the arts, upheld justice, and 
labored to develop the resources of commerce and 
navigation. Orphans and widows were intrusted to 
their benevolence and piety. Orphans found in them 
other fathers; the poor, their support; churches, their 
adornments; priests, the aids of their ministry. They 
founded and maintained hospitals, asylums, retreats, 
for the destitute and miserable. 

Servants never speak on such topics to their young 
masters; and whilst the father is absorbed in the con- 
sideration of his rank, of affairs public and private, 
his children are rarely benefited by virtuous counsels. 
Is it, then, a matter of surprise that the education of 

* These details are historical. Prudence forbids the author, who has often 
seen this roofless edifice, to designate this fact, and unhappily many others, 
in a clearer light. 


TIIE PRECEPTOR. 


55 


the scions of nobility is so deficient ? Their souls, de- 
moralized by this home instruction, this communion 
with servants, are debarred those manly exercises 
■which public education gives, under the eye of wisdom, 
goodness, and experience. 

Our halls are no longer decorated with the portraits 
of ancestors. Our modern reformers have banished 
them in contempt. The change is far more mischiev- 
ous than the world thinks. To modernize our palaces, 
the portraits are exiled to the servants’ rooms. Dis- 
posed in an honorable place, they might have kindled 
in my soul a noble emulation. I probably would never 
have given them a thought, if the domestics had not 
directed my attention to them to excite my vanity. 
But I was never led to behold in those venerable faces 
the fathers of my family, the founders and guardians of 
our opulence and nobility, the authors of all our glory, 
by the valor of arms, the wisdom of counsels, the j ustice 
of the magistracy, the dignity of the purple, the lustre 
of science, the piety of the priesthood, the liberality of 
alms-deeds, the eminence of Christian and political 
virtues. It is only when the portraits of our ancestors 
are distinguished by marks of respect that they in- 
spire our bosoms with these lofty sentiments. Love 
of family is extinguished like love of country. 

The only portraits which hung in the principal 
rooms were those of my father and mother, of J osephine 
and myself. They were miniatures on ivory, sketches 
in crayon and water-colors, set in ivory or gilt bronze 
frames. Some were suspended from the walls; others 
lay on centre-tables amidst a crowd of papers, smelling- 
bottles, and balls of worsted. So fashion decreed, and 
bade us undervalue ancestral greatness. 


56 


LI0NELL0. 


CHAPTER VI. 

STUDIES. 

The daughters of noblemen are better educated than 
tbeir sons. They live secluded under the constant su- 
pervision of their instructresses, and in frequent com- 
munion with their mothers. Thus, my sister Josephine, 
as she grew up, made daily progress in modesty, science, 
grace, and piety. I was placed, at a later day, under 
the care of a tutor, and, in my thoughtlessness, was little 
distinguished by application. The tutor was disheart- 
ened by my heedless and indolent disposition. How- 
ever, having led me to the term of my grammatical 
studies, he succeeded in inspiring me with a love of 
poetry. I became fond of poetic works, and essayed a 
few couplets, then a strophe, then a soHnet, in fine an 
anacreontic ode. 

Novel-reading was not then in fashion. My master 
was the avowed enemy of this light literature, and he 
hourly split my head with tirades against novelists, 
whom he denounced as escaped convicts from the gal- 
leys and chain-gangs, corrupters of good taste, vision- 
aries, and blockheads, who rob poetry of its celestial 
brightness, and plunge it in the mire, in order to flood 
Italy with their Ermengardes, Ildeberges, Cunegondes, 
and Burgandofores, on their humdrum lyres. He read 
to me some limping lines, which ran like wind-broken 
horses, and, stamping on the floor, exclaimed, — 

“Do you like such washy stuff as that? Stick to 
Dante, Ariosto, Tasso; temper their influence a little 


STUDIES. 


57 

with Petrarch and Politian; enliven your imagination 
with the odes of Chiabrera; strengthen it with Monti 
and Varano; embellish it with Parini and Pindemonti. 
These men will never die; but the jinglers of empty 
words are mere abortions, — still-born poetasters!” 

The halcyon portion of my life was the two years 
which I devoted to the study of the poets, Homer, 
Virgil, Horace, Tibullus, and our great masters. All 
nature — water, air, fire, the earth itself — was, for me, 
instinct with life. 

My mind was crowded with charming ideas, and my 
soul revelled in the sweetest reveries. My enchanted 
eyes saw Naiads in fountains and rivers; Oreads in 
the mountains ; Dryads, and Hamadryads, in the 
woods and meadows. For me the moon was the god- 
dess Cynthia, descending with silent steps to the soli- 
tary shades of the forest; the sun was Phoebus, pre- 
ceded by the Hours, strewing with roses his flaming 
path. I often retired alone into the villa park, and 
there, with the Bucolics of Virgil, and the Arcadia of 
Sannazzaro, the Filli di Siro of Bonarelli, and the Idylls 
of Lesmene, I spent the hours so tranquilly, sweetly, 
innocently, in the dreams of my youth, that I found 
nothing to crave, nothing to envy. Oh, it was cruel 
to ravish me from those delightful occupations, and 
cast me into the arms of a false and fallacious philoso- 
phy ! Don Giulio, to whom I am indebted for refined 
tastes in literary pursuits, was the imprudent cause of 
my wanderings. He should have prolonged the term 
of my harmless reveries, and not confronted me with a 
reality more illusory than my poetic fancies. 

Like the scholars of his time, Don Giulio had studied 
the philosophy of Locke and Condillac, — a philosophy, 


LIONELLO. 


58 

which, degenerate from its sublime nature and alien 
from the bosom of God, crawls the earth and immerses 
itself in mire. 

The materialism with which it is defiled penetrates 
the soul, overpowers its grandest conceptions, and ex- 
tinguishes its celestial fire. Philosophy is divine in its 
origin. Fallen, degraded, miserable, it clings to the 
pride of birth, like the ruined noble, who, in the midst 
of poverty and destitution, to which he has reduced 
himself by squandering his ancestral estates, still 
vaunts his ancient honors, and disdains inferior line- 
age. This truthless, loquacious, sensual philosophy is 
capable of pinsiring the warm and generous heart of 
youth with indomitable pride. 

German philosophy, with its cloudy abstractions, 
flings the soul into a mysterious sea of ultramundane 
idealism; the sensual philosophy of Locke and Con- 
dillac involves the soul in an idealism apparently firmer 
and more reliable, but more fatal than the other. These 
two systems, by opposite and divergent currents, sweep 
their victims equally to the abyss of nothing. They 
render man incapable of forming just conceptions of 
God and his own soul. The scepticism which springs 
from visionary abstractions or material ideas eradicates 
from the heart of the young man every fibre of the 
germ of faith, love, submission to authority, human and 
divine. At the present day, the world affects to laugh 
at Locke’s philosophy, as a puerility; but its evil prin- 
ciples are still cherished. It has merely changed names. 
Sensualism is now spiritualism, which infuses a deadlier 
poison, as it leads the student to a theory which ends 
in pure pantheism. Thus, indeed, he passes from the 
philosophy of the brute to the philosophy of the demon 


who first whispered in mans ear, “You shall he as 
gods!” 

Poor Don Giulio, unsuspicious of evil, deposited in 
my mind the pernicious germ of pride and incredulity. 
My nature was too ready to produce fruits from these 
doctrines, and I can recall distinctly the deductions 
which I drew from them. Link was united to link to 
form the entire chain of error to the end. My tutor 
was alarmed, and exclaimed, — 

“It is not so: you are a sophist, and your conclu- 
sions are false.” 

I said nothing in reply; but my mind fostered the 
seed unwarily cast into it, and silently, rapidly, deve- 
loped the mischief. This philosophy has produced and 
it will continue to produce continual illusion, — cruel 
deceptions in the applications of its principles ; for, in 
lowering the mind to the level of the senses, it has the 
bold astuteness to inflate it with the ideas of its own 
excellence and make it the sole object of its votaries' 
homage and adoration. Young people revere this phi- 
losophy as a divine and imperishable revelation. Your 
efforts to divert them from this foolish idolatry serve 
only to render their devotion more obstinate, and con- 
vince them that you are silly, stupid, profane, sacrile- 
gious. After I had read Monti’s works, I became an 
enthusiastic admirer of the eminent philosophers who, 
since the days of Descartes, have continued until now 
to vitiate and destroy all principles, — religious, political, 
and natural. I regarded these men as the tutelary 
deities of the world. Though the world should be an- 
nihilated under the disastrous influence of these destruc- 
tive doctrines, the names of Bacon, Montesquieu, Locke, 
Filangieri, Beccaria, Komagnosi, and a hundred others, 


60 


LIONELLO. 


are sacred and inviolable; — woe to him who touches 
them ! It is no longer God, still less Christ, who in- 
spires and directs natural and political sciences. An 
atheistic philosophy has generated an atheistic legisla- 
tion ; and, by its action on nations, has produced succes- 
sive conspiracies to undermine and subvert society. 

What age shall be blest by the advent of a master- 
mind resolute to crush these homicidal idols and fling 
their dust to the winds of heaven? Napoleon arose 
and overturned the thrones of Europe. But the throne 
of modern philosophy cannot be overthrown but by the 
little stone which broke in pieces the feet of clay of 
Nabuchodonosor s colossal statue. I am a sceptic; but 
I curse, with all my soul and all the powers of my 
being, the philosophy which has made me what I am. 
It has insinuated itself, with the subtlety of the serpent, 
into every department, and left the track of its slime 
on all human institutions. History, criticism, philology, 
politics, political economy, criminal and civil jurispru- 
dence, natural and exact sciences, all — all have been 
pierced by its fangs and tainted with its venom. Men 
breathe its contagion with the air, and drink it like 
water. I have heard men of belief, pious and reli- 
gious, exclaim, “Credo, Domine: adjuva incredulitatem 
meam.”* 

I read no more ; but, if remorse of conscience, which 
rankles in my breast, if misanthropy and despair, 
which overwhelm me at this hour, allow me a respite, 
a period of tranquillity, I will read only those ancient 
works which preceded the birth of Protestantism. 

We find in those old legends and chronicles — nay, 


“I believe, 0 Lord: help thou my unbelief.” 


STUDIES. 


61 


even in profane books — a religious inspiration which 
constrains us at every page to cry out, “There is faith.” 

The misfortunes of my youth are attributable to the 
philosophy of Locke, and the imprudence of my father. 
He had a fine library ; but many of the works were 
selected, according to the taste of the last century, 
from the trumpery of the French philosophers. A 
young man’s curiosity drew my attention to a number 
of volumes bound in morocco, edged with gilt reglets, 
and adorned with exquisite engravings. I opened the 
Moral Tales of Marmontel , and thrilled with delight as 
I read them. I then passed to the Incas and Belisarius , 

■ — books filled with corrupt and seductive sentiments. 
Whenever I could escape the vigilance of my master, I 
feasted on these works. The taste of youth perverted 
by this kind of reading becomes an insatiable hunger. 
To complete my ruin, I laid my hand on the romances 
of Voltaire, Rousseau’s Nouvelle Heloise , Raynald’s 
America. These extinguished the last spark of piety 
in my heart. I became so passionately fond of novels 
that, under the plea of headaches, I dispensed with my 
music and writing lessons, and even my exercises on 
horseback. My parents, struck with my calm and 
thoughtful air, serious face, composed behavior, silent 
and solitary habits, said to their friends, — 

11 Do you notice the change in Nello ? He is no longer 
full of giddiness and freaks : he is becoming a man.” 

But Josephine was alarmed at this sudden and un- 
natural alteration in my conduct. Our good sisters 
are endowed with a rare instinct, a power almost 
angelic to penetrate the very souls of their brothers. 
They read all mysteries in our eyes, features, com- 
plexion, motion of the lips, actions and demeanor ; and, 
6 


62 


LIONELLO. 


from signs imperceptible by the ordinary observer, our 
dominant thoughts and passions. Josephine regarded 
me with a silent and troubled air. She looked into 
my bosom with candid and scrutinizing eye. She 
seemed driven by an uncontrollable impulse to seek my 
society; and, contrary to her habits, she sometimes 
stole away from the side of her mother or the tuition 
of her teacher to surprise me in my occupations. One 
day she espied me entering the garden. She got in 
advance of me, and, at the opening of a walk, came 
suddenly on me as I was engaged in reading one of 
Rousseau’s works. I hurriedly shut the volume, which 
was small-sized, and put it, as if mechanically, in my 
pocket. But the tender and pious eye of that good 
sister had observed some confusion in my face, in spite 
of the affected smile with which I strove to hide it. 

She said to me, with some agitation in her voice and 
manner, “Nello, what are you reading?” “A history, 
my dear,” I drily replied. She fixed her eye upon me, 
whilst a tear quivered on the eyelash. She seized my 
hand and I felt her own trembling; then, as if to express 
a desire to take a little walk with me, she drew to the 
bottom of the shrubbery, and said, — 

“ Nello, something is the matter with you. You 
avoid me; and yet I love you so fondly! I mark a 
great change in you : your good heart betrays you. 
Dear Nello, you are hiding some secret from me, and 
you are wrong. Be on your guard against the tempta- 
tions of the devil. I tell you frankly, I am not satisfied 
about the books you read. Formerly you showed them 
to me ; now you secrete yourself when you intend to 
read. I suspect that you read a large portion of the 
night, — because lately, when I was returning with 


STUDIES. 


63 


mamma from the theatre, I saw a light still burning 
in your room. Have recourse to God, and seek the 
counsel of your confessor." 

I assured her that she was mistaken, and I employed 
strong protestations to convince her. Josephine listened 
to me quietly, and then, with a sweet smile, put her 
hand in my pocket. I seized it rudely. She imme- 
diately withdrew it, fell on her knees, and, with clasped 
hands and a suppliant voice full of tenderness, said, 
“ Hello, forgive me." 

It was the affair of a moment. 

I felt thunderstruck. Ah! why did a false shame 
seal my lips? I wept with Josephine; I tried to calm 
her ; I promised to follow her advice. But my heart 
was already enslaved by my passions; my soul, intoxi- 
cated with illusions. Alas ! the tree of knowledge of 
good and evil stood before me; the tempter and the 
occasion prompted me to pluck and eat. 

Had my sister been aware that I found these books 
in my father’s library, she would have apprized him of 
the fact and freed me from the danger and desire of 
reading them. A key might have saved me. How 
many fathers may charge on their own imprudence 
the ruin of their children 1 Irreligious and obscene 
books ought to be guarded by a triple lock. It is a 
slow poison, which eventually kills. A prudent father 
ought to give them to the public libraries. There, and 
only there, they may serve some good purpose, — like 
poisons in the hands of the druggist.* 


* One of these victims was poor Giacomo Leopardi. He found 
books in his father’s library which robbed him not only of faith, but of 
hope, the sweetest virtue which God has deposited in the human heart. 
When we open the writings of this unfortunate young man, we have 


64 


LIONELLO. 


CHAPTER VII. 

THE UNIVERSITY. 

I had scarcely attained my sixteenth year, when 
my father, during a hunt, died of an aneurism, and I was 
left under the government of my mother. Eriends and 
relations advised her to hasten my marriage. To this 
measure I was resolutely opposed. I considered it an 
act of folly to hamper myself with domestic embarrass- 
ments; and I made known my positive determination 
to pursue the course of studies, the ensuing November, 
at the University of Padua. This declaration dis- 
tressed my mother and connexions. They were morti- 
fied at the thought of seeing me, the heir of a noble 
house, mingling with lawyers, doctors, and surgeons. 
But, as I was not to be dissuaded from my purpose, my 
mother furnished me with a handsome wardrobe, bed- 
ding, and rich furs for winter. For several months 
Josephine was preoccupied with the thought of mak- 
ing ample provision for a young man who was about 
to keep bachelor’s hall. 


not the courage to continue to the end. They stifle the very breath of 
life in the soul. I loved him. Born the same year, we were fellow- 
students, and, in early life, ardent disciples of the philosophy of 
Greece. My good angel saved me in time. Giacomo permitted him- 
self to be misled by the demon of falsehood and by treacherous friends 
who cast him into the fathomless abyss of errors. But God was 
merciful to him. Giacomo confessed his sins and died repentant. 
Let Rianeiri and Gioberti cry out, Falsehood! Gioberti, by a sudden 
death, was called to the judgment-seat of the Almighty. His doom is 
sealed. Does he persist now in eulogizing an impenitent end ? 


THE UNIVERSITY. 


65 


She attended to every thing. She packed in certain 
little boxes six pairs of suspenders of red, yellow, and 
blue silks, six pairs of elastic garters; I don’t know 
how many package of fine gloves, neck-ties, and light 
slippers of every taste and fashion. She added a dozen 
cakes of scented soap, a case of razors, and an assort- 
ment of scissors, tweezers, tooth-brushes, nail-files : so 
that I might have opened a perfumery-shop. I had 
cigar-cases, and, for my smoking-tobacco, little purses 
closed with silk cords and adorned with gold and silver 
fillets ; pipes of all shapes and materials, from the meer- 
schaum to Sevres porcelain. 

She had carefully deposited all these articles in 
ebony or sandal-wood caskets, with divers inscriptions 
to denote the contents. Poor Josephine ! she vainly 
lavished these marks of her devotion on a selfish and 
ungrateful brother. I blamed her for giving herself 
so much trouble ; but her only answer was a winning 
smile, and a tear which bedewed the objects she was 
arranging. My mother wrote to one of her acquaint- 
ances at Padua to select elegant and comfortable 
apartments for me, and well aired, with a sunny ex- 
posure, in the centre of the city, and to procure a stable 
for two saddle-horses, and a coach-house for a tilbury 
and a two-wheeled Paduan. 

At the hour of departure, my mother, my sister, 
and the female servants were bathed in tears ; the old 
domestics, with the gamekeepers, came with sad faces 
from the villas and farms to bid me farewell and wish 
me a safe journey ; my friends and relatives pressed my 
hand, kissed and embraced me. It was a memorable 
event. The excellent Don Giulio wished to accompany 
me, with the steward ; but on my arrival at Padua, 
c* 


66 


LIONELLO. 


after liaving presented my letters of introduction, made 
some formal visits, and felt myself somewhat at home, 
I dismissed the priest and steward, with affectionate 
letters for my mother and Josephine. 

I very soon became acquainted with some of the 
most distinguished families of the city. Every evening 
I took a drive in my tilbury, or a ride on horseback, 
attended by a groom. When I alighted at the coffee- 
house Pedrocchi, I gave the animal in charge to the 
servant to take it back to the stable, and then chatted 
with the frequenters of the house till the opening of 
the theatre. 

When the university course commenced, and I was 
brought into contact with the students, I discovered 
that Padua was a quiet city. The nobles and the citi- 
zens constitute in a measure a distinct city. They hold 
their respective assemblies ; converse about their plea- 
sures, affairs, promenades; go to church, and sedulously 
follow the customs and usages of their fathers. 

The students follow other laws, establish other re- 
unions, form their separate circles, have their own 
exclusive coffee-houses, soirees, entertainments, tastes. 
An alumnus who associates with the Paduan families, 
walks with the young nobles, joins in their concerts 
and dances and the amusements of a refined society, 
at once arrays against himself the whole body of reck- 
less scholars. The least offensive measure against de- 
linquents is to tell them that they smell of the nur- 
sery and the college, — that they are yet trembling 
under the pedagogue’s ferule. 

They style them aristi, valets of the crown, slaves 
of the court, — treat them as seminarians and monks. 
They insult these scholars with winks, grimaces, hems, 


THE UNIVERSITY. 


67 

shun their society on all occasions, or, when they ap- 
proach, raise a hand to impose silence, and utter the 
cry ; — 

“Here’s the beacon! here’s the trumpet! Long life 
to spies!” And the crowd disperses like clouds from 
the face of the sun. 

Young men endowed with good sense and moral 
courage disregard this conduct : they respect the li- 
berty of their neighbors, and know how to make others 
respect theirs. But I was not the man to stand firmly 
before these bugbears. I imagined that I would be 
lost if I did not allow myself to be carried along by 
the current. I forsook, therefore, the society of the 
youths of my own condition, and I flung myself head- 
long into a band of the most profligate students. They 
soon scented my sequins, and eagerly attached them- 
selves to me, like flies to a carcass. 

They were prodigal of caresses, eulogies, flatteries. 
My allowance was ample. Sixty sequins were allotted 
for my table ; thirty, for amusements. There was 
abundance to regale the parasites, who ever clung to 
me. It was I who had to pay for the breakfasts, 
cigars, cordials, and pies which the Venetians call buz - 
zolai. I generally had five or six of this gentry at my 
dinner- table ; and if unluckily there was room, there 
were always at hand spongers to occupy without cere- 
mony the intervening spaces. They called for fresh 
supplies, and when they had gorged themselves they 
arose, and whispered to the waiter, as they passed out, 
“The count pays.” And thus, when I had invited only 
five or six, I was obliged to pay for ten, and received 
no thanks for my liberality. Many times when I en- 
tered the theatre I was surprised to hear the door- 


68 


LIONELLO. 


keeper say, “ Please to pay for five or six gentlemen 
who entered in your name.” And I, from good nature 
or foolish pride, paid for the tickets with a smile on 
my lips. Then, as we left the theatre, these fellows 
gathered around me, and said, “ Count, why haven’t you 
invited us to dine with you at Bartoletto’s ? This morn- 
ing he bought a basket of snipes, and the best Mon- 
tebaldo truffles you ever ate.” Of course, I invited them. 
They entered the kitchen, ordered at my expense a 
costly supper, three or four kinds of foreign wines; 
then came coffee, a bottle of rum ; and then my guests 
rapidly quitted the restaurant. 

Others said, “Count, what charming spring days 
we have ! Suppose we make an excursion to-morrow 
to Mira, or, if you choose, to Dolo. Friends, don’t fail 
to be on the banks of the Brenta to-morrow morning 
at six o’clock, to go on board the bark Telesforo. I 
will be manager : we pay a dollar a head : and we will 
feast like princes, and quaff the wine of Enganci, ex- 
quisitely flavored and colored with the golden hue of 
half a century.” 

The following day we were on board at the ap- 
pointed hour, each one with a cigar in his mouth. Our 
bark might have been taken for a man of war which 
has just fired a broadside. The air was filled with 
uproarious and licentious conversation, offensive to 
persons the least refined ; the attitudes, gestures, and 
entire deportment were excessively disgraceful, amid 
fiendish yells and blasphemies. At Mira or Dolo we 
were like a pack of hounds on the scent. 

After an excellent and noisy breakfast, my rude com- 
rades vanished one after another from the room, and 
left me alone to settle with the landlord, to pay not 


THE UNIVERSITY. 


69 


only for the repast, but for broken plates, for bottles 
recklessly dashed through the windows, and for several 
pounds of sausages and Parmesan cheese, with a quan- 
tity of wine which they had disposed of on hoard. 
When I rejoined them, the rogues shouted, “Long life 
to the count! we owe you a crown a-piece: we will 
play for it at the billiard-table.” Thus I stood scot for 
everybody. 

If, however, my extravagance had gone no further 
than to pay for some dinners and frolics, I would not 
have exceeded my income; but my evil destiny, or 
rather my evil nature, lured me to the gambling- 
room. I was at first passionately fond of billiards, 
then of faro, basset, roulette, which is the most de- 
testable of these liell-invented games. Some of the more 
advanced students in the course of law and medicine, 
professional knaves, swindlers, and pickpockets, chose 
me as their pigeon to pluck. They began by inducing 
me to play billiards. At first, I won not only money, 
but their extravagant eulogies. They declared me an 
incomparable hand ; they vaunted my strokes, as emi- 
nently dexterous; they feigned despair, doubled the 
stakes, and, when they had cajoled me to this point, 
they proposed to triple the entire wager. Like a block- 
head, I accepted their proposition, and in ten mi- 
nutes I was stripped of three times the amount of 
my winnings. 

Squandering thus, every night, fifty, one hundred, 
two hundred livres, I soon found myself with an empty 
pocket. I was ashamed to ask at home for a fresh 
supply of money, and sold in succession my carriages, 
horses, and some pieces of jewelry. One night, after 
having lost the money which I obtained for my horses, 


LIONELLO. 


70 

I staked and lost my store of skirts. Two-tkirds of 
tkem were quite new, and untoucked kut by tke band 
of Josephine. 

My sole stock of linen was in tke bands of tke laun- 
dress. I was deeply mortified at the result, as hitherto 
I had appeared in public with linen as unsullied as 
ermine. I wrote to Josephine a tissue of lies and stra- 
tagems. I pretended that the washerwomen of Padua 
had torn my shirts, — that the most of them were in 
ribbons, and that one day, whilst I was listening to a 
sermon, a thief stole the rest. I begged her therefore to 
send me an early supply. I added, with many lamenta- 
tions, that the robber had carried off the valuable dia- 
mond ring which my father used to wear, my ruby and 
emerald pins, and even my gold repeater, and the rich 
watch-chain. The good Josephine, in less than a month, 
with the approbation of my mother, transmitted to me, 
by a courier, a complete wardrobe, a superb English 
barrel-watch, some pins set with brilliants and precious 
stones, and a well-filled purse of sequins. She begged 
me to accept all this as her New Year’s present. She 
little dreamed that these gifts of affection would in a 
few days be swallowed up in the gulf of play and dis- 
sipation.* 

My passion for gambling often reduced me to such 
straits that I would have shrunk from no proposition 
to procure money. During the first year of my univer- 
sity life, I twice lost at play, not only my furniture and 


* We knew another Lionello, who, during his stay at the Univer- 
sity of Turin, gambled away at billiards, in one year, three succes- 
sive supplies of linen. Ilis poor mother cheerfully granted them, 
under the persuasion that her son had been victimized by the laun- 
dresses of the Pilone and the Dora. 


THE UNIVERSITY. 


71 

supply of linens, but my cloak, best coats, coverlets and 
sheets, furs and sables, and even my trunks and travel- 
ling-bags, — so that when I returned home during the 
vacation I was as poor and bare as a Capuchin. There 
I was compelled to fabricate all kinds of lying and im- 
probable tales about robbers, thefts, swindling, — tales 
which alarmed and distressed my mother and sister, 
and induced them to give me another outfit. 

I reposed very fair hopes in the overseers of our 
estates, and I determined to visit them at their houses. 
But my calculations were frustrated. These men feared 
my tutor and my mother ; above all, they stood in great 
dread of the secretary, an old man of great shrewdness, 
minutiae, and mathematical exactitude, who, naturally 
suspicious, was never satisfied but with palpable proofs 
of a statement. The overseer of the large rice-plantation 
helped me most in my embarrassments. He secretly 
sold some bags of rice, and put the price in my hands, — 
a small purse of gold. The others gave me a few paltry 
sequins, and a thousand recommendations to be pru- 
dent : — 

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, don’t ruin me, your excel- 
lency, by mentioning it to anybody ! If Signor Anselmo 
were to hear of it, I should be a lost man!” 

At home, I succeeded in purloining some gems and 
pieces of plate, which I converted into a passable sum 
of fair, good crowns. My fondling and caresses of my 
mother and sister were worth a thousand sequins. My 
success only threw straw on the fire. I returned to the 
gambling-table with a bolder spirit, and risked large 
sums on the races which took place in the course of 
Valle. I spent, wasted, squandered money with a 
lavish hand. I demurred at no challenge, and indulged 


LIONELLO. 


72 

every desire at every cost. I shall not recount the tears 
of despair which I wrung from poor mothers, over- 
whelmed by the dishonor of their families ; the ruin 
of their innocent daughters, whom I blasted by my 
criminal intrigues. The voice of their maledictions has 
gone up to heaven; the angels of God have heard that 
voice, and they now pursue me with fiery swords. To 
escape their vengeance, I have vainly traversed seas, 
and wandered to remotest lands. Like Cain, I cannot 
cast off the burden of remorse which crushes me to the 
earth ! 

In a short time, my money and the value of my 
effects were swallowed up; but, in proportion to my 
poverty, my passion for play and dissipation increased. 

Ashamed to harass my mother and sister with fresh 
demands, I resolved to cast myself headlong into the 
last abyss, — to recur to rogues, pickpockets, Jews, and 
merciless usurers. I therefore had some communication 
with these wretches, who live by rapine and thievery; 
who are the blood-suckers and executioners of the luck- 
less students who fall into their hands. 

They often loaned me two hundred livres at ten per 
cent, a day, so that at the end of ten days I owed four 
hundred livres, — at the end of twenty, eight hundred. 
But these two hundred livres were lent me only as a 
deposit. Hence, I often pawned my very bed, con- 
tenting myself with a mattress and two coverlets. The 
rest of my movables I carried about me, that is, my 
razors, boots, and hat. The Jews, who already disco- 
vered in me a madcap, made inquiries about me of their 
fellow- Jews in my own country. They learned that I 
was the son of a wealthy family, and, accordingly, they 
loaned me money without stint. One day I had lost 


THE UNIVERSITY. 


73 


fifty dollars, .and I was bound to pay the amount in 
twenty-four hours, or be dishonored. I applied to a 
Jew, who accommodated me, after I had signed a note 
drawn up by a notary. The knave affected disinclina- 
tion at first, and then allowed himself to be won. Then, 
as a great favor, he gave me one hundred dollars in 
cash, and nine hundred dollars in pins, buttons, rings, 
with an obligation drawn up in this form : — “ One thou- 
sand dollars in Current specie.” Other sharpers, in col- 
lusion with the Jew, gathered officiously around me, 
and offered their services to dispose of these articles. 
My capital of nine hundred dollars was reduced to one 
hundred and eighty-two dollars; and, after paying 
twenty dollars commission, I found myself master of 
one hundred and sixty-two dollars. 

At other times, under the form of loan, they palmed 
on me old pictures, pieces of damaged cotton, broken- 
winded horses, rickety carriages, and even skins of 
leather, from the sale of which worthless goods I did 
not get two per cent. 

At this epoch, some of the students formed a secret 
society. Composed at first of Germans, it was enlarged 
by the admission of Italian youths, whom a salaried 
bandit inveigled. They assembled at night in a secluded 
spot, and there, brandishing their daggers, they made 
horrible oaths and uttered frightful blasphemies. They 
fired their imaginations with scenes of assassination, of 
atrocious crimes, of murderers and their victims, pic- 
tured with burning words by certain German writers 
or engraved with singular talent and expression. 

Among themselves they appropriated the name of 
Savages. They wore unshorn hair and unclipped nails ; 
they rarely combed or washed themselves. Whiskers 
7 


74 


LIONELLO. 


and moustaches were forbidden; but they permitted 
the hair to grow wildly over the face. It was a rule not 
to mend or brush their clothes, nor clean their boots. 
In their nocturnal retreat, seated around an old oak 
table and seen by the dim light of a lamp, they might 
have been taken for a herd of ferocious beasts. 

The students of anatomy brought under their cloaks 
limbs of the corpses which they had been dissecting in 
the amphitheatre. They placed on a red cloth, in the 
middle of the table, the eyes of a youth sixteen or 
seventeen years old. They came forward to look at 
these lifeless organs. 

The dull black pupils stared from the whitish coat- 
ing and the bloody fragment of flesh near the optic 
nerve : they seemed to reflect disdainfully the features 
of these barbarians. One of the fiercest of the band 
arose and said, “ I curse these soft and languishing 
eyes, which probably have wept in compassion over 
the grave of a brother, a sister, or a friend; which 
perhaps shone with the light of a chaste and noble af- 
fection.” And then he pierced them with his poniard. 

More frequently the object of their savage amuse- 
ment was the heart of a young man who had died in the 
flower of his age. They ground their teeth in rage as 
they gazed upon it. Then the hardiest of the band 
gnawed and passed it to his companions, who, each in 
turn, devoured a morsel of the quivering flesh. Like 
tigers and hyenas, the^, licked their fingers imbrued 
with blood. At another time, it was a flask of blood, 
filled at the hospital, which these miscreants handed 
around like a goblet of wine. 

They even supped on raw flesh and blood.- One of 
their number went to a slaughter-house, when the 


THE UNIVERSITY. 


75 

butchers were killing a beef, and bought a piece of 
meat, and a bottle of the hot blood, under the pretext 
of cooking beefsteaks. With this crude and revolting 
food, the guests gorged themselves. 

Italians read with horror, in the journals of this 
epoch, the following incident. One of these cannibals, 
having after midnight crept from this den, was found 
dead under a porch in Padua. There was a mystery 
about his death. Had he received a violent blow on 
the head, or been garroted; had he died of indigestion, 
or congestion of the brain, produced by this horrible re- 
past? The last hypothesis is the most probable. 

His corpse is carried to the cemetery and subjected 
to a post-mortem examination. 

The stomach was found clogged and paralyzed with 
raw flesh and blood. The surgeons and physicians 
were horrified at the discovery. The police investi- 
gated the matter zealously, and succeeded in tracking 
these brutal conspirators to their lair and detecting 
their frightful rules, their appalling oaths, their dia- 
bolical books and infamous engravings. 

Here were some of the subjects of these engravings : 

Aristodemus embowelling his daughter and examin- 
ing, lamp in hand, her palpitating entrails ; Medea pre- 
senting to her husband the roasted limbs of her chil- 
dren; a hyena at night tearing corpses from the 
graves ; a panther devouring an Arab who had strag- 
gled from his caravan ; a band of Caledonian savages 
in the depths of a forest, gathered round a fire, roasting 
a prisoner, before the eyes of his wife, and offering 
her the legs and arms of her murdered husband to 
eat. 

The room in which these young men met was a 


LIONELLO. 


76 

filthy receptacle. The ground was a kind of compost; 
the ceiling was blackened with smoke ; the walls begrimed 
with clots of blood, shreds of flesh, skin, and fat, which 
the feasters after their orgies had spattered on them. 
The entrance opened on a small lane, where there was 
a sewer. Into this sewer were flung the bones, hearts, 
eyes, and limbs of the bodies which had been dissected. 
The police found in it entire corpses. 

Hapless mothers, who brought such monsters into 
the world, the disgrace of nature and the sad evidence 
of man’s perverted heart, you owe to the doctrines of 
Weishaupt the ruin of your hopes and the misery of 
your lives. These, however, are but the preludes of 
German communism. They are consequences deduced 
from the doctrines of Weitling, George Herwegh, 
Beker, Kolhmeyer, William Marr, who inculcated this 
principle on the minds of their young countrymen : — 
“ Man, to aggrandize himself, must become a savage 
with the lion of the wilderness.” 

I am aware that I ought to apologize to my lady 
readers, whose sensibilities are shocked by these de- 
tails. But I appear as the teacher of my race, the 
monitor and guardian o£ the young, in divulging to 
them the danger of impious and revolutionary associa- 
tions. Many so woefully beguiled were sons of good 
and honest parents; the objects of deep affection and 
solicitude. But if the child is not disciplined in the 
ways of religion, what safeguards has he in his adult 
age against his passions, the temptations with which he 
is assailed, the snares which are spread around him ? 
This sect of Savages was composed of fanatics and 
madmen, rather than absolute criminals. 

I knew one who, entrapped by human respect, per- 


severed through weakness, but who was a rank coward 
when he found himself alone in his own room. 

He kept a lamp burning all night by his side, and 
placed a crucifix under his pillow, lest the devil should 
strangle him in his sleep. 

Estimate the capabilities of these wretches to corrupt 
the young.* 

One of this gang retailed to me their amusements, 
and essayed every means to lure me to their den. But 
I was disgusted with their grossness and brutality. 
They construed my refusal as the disdain of the noble, 
and resolved to hold me to a strict responsibility. 
Their insults served only to put me more on my guard. 
At the theatre or in the coffee-houses, they flouted me 
with bitter gibes and prompted others to join them : 
but I had good sense enough to disregard them. 

I had, on a certain evening, gone to a private gam- 
bling establishment, to play at roulette, a forbidden game, 
which previously had cost me very dear. After several 
unlucky throws, at which I always doubled the stakes, 
I was on the brink of ruin. In despair, I put down 
my last ten sequins and won three hundred. I gathered 
up the winnings in my purse and turned my steps home- 
ward, humming an air on the way. I had entered an 
alley in the rear of the cathedral, when suddenly I felt 
my arms pinned behind, and a voice whispering in my 

* Was this a political association ? We are unable to say ; but we do 
say that it resembles political associations in its form and character, 
and that the members of such clubs are the fiercest foes of govern- 
ment in a revolutionary outbreak. A man who was no stranger to 
their operations said, “Ah, the police fears them.” A terrible con- 
sideration, indeed ! This fact inspires them with audacity, and con- 
stitutes their strength. Rulers ought to exercise greater vigilance 
and firmness. 


78 


LIONELLO. 


ear, “Your money.” I generally carried in my liand 
a hunting-whip, whose steel handle, covered with 
leather, sheathed a blade capable of giving a mortal 
blow to the strongest assailant. I was armed, too, with 
pistols; but my weapons were unavailing, for my giant 
enemy held me as in a vice. I tremblingly said to 
him, “ Free my arms, and I will give you my purse.” 
But his hand followed mine into my pocket, and he 
possessed himself of my spoils. He said to me, “ Be- 
ware of ever disclosing this to any one. Swear that 
you will not.” I swore according to his dictation : he 
loosened his hold and disappeared. 

I congratulated myself on my escape. I lost my 
money, indeed, but I was sound in limb. I resigned 
myself easily to my fate, and gave the credit of this 
adventure to the Savages. The following night, on my 
return to my lodgings, a man in a mask confronted me 
and said, through his teeth, “Here is your purse. I 
had need of thirty-five sequins to meet a loss at play. 
To save my honor, I was compelled to rob you last 
evening.” I stood amazed, and, holding the purse 
still in my hand, I said, “If, sir, you need more, help 
yourself.” He replied, “You are too generous to a 
robber. I wanted thirty-five cursed sequins, and I got 
them. It is enough. But I will make them good to 
you.” He left me. 

A few days after, I was involved in an unlucky affair. 
I had aggrieved two brothers, of robust spirit and 
frame, who had sworn to be avenged. 

It was at night. I was seized in an alley and hurried 
toward the Valle Meadow. I was totally unable to free 
myself from the gripe of those stout arms, or cry aloud 
for help, as they had gagged me. I gave myself up 


THE UNIVERSITY. 


79 


as a doomed man. Suddenly a voice was heard; “Off 
with you, you scoundrels, or I’ll be the death of you !” 
At the same moment, one of my assailants was stretched 
senseless on the ground by the blow of a heavy stick; 
and the other, who had not escaped the same chastise- 
ment, recovering from the onslaught, betook himself 
to flight. My deliverer pursued him like a vulture. 
Meanwhile I freed myself from the gag, and ran to 
thank for this opportune rescue the man whom by his 
voice I recognized as the person who had taken and 
restored my purse. 

This was not the only occasion in which I owed him 
my life : as my folly and temerity plunged me time after 
time into the greatest dangers. 

This extraordinary man, in expiation of the wrong 
which he had done me, or rather of the guilty act 
which he had committed in my regard, resolved, it 
seems, to watch and guard me. The young man came 
from a large market-town of the Polesine. Tall and 
stalwart in body, kind and generous of heart, ardent 
and intrepid in spirit, he had, like me, been seduced 
by bad company ; and now, silent and musing, he lived 
apart from all society. My spendthrift and ignoble 
course afflicted him deeply. He became my devoted 
protector : followed me, unconscious of his presence, 
from the theatre and coffee-house, ready to peril his 
life for mine. 

One night I was attacked by three of the Savages 
with whom I had been engaged a short time previously 
in an animated dispute. These bandits suddenly attacked 
me on the banks of the Brenta, and threw me into the 
stream. I was drowning, when my savior reached the 
spot, plunged into the water, and brought me to the 


80 


LIONELLO. 


shore. He held me feet upwards for a moment, then 
placed me on his shoulders, carried me to my lodgings, 
and, having laid me on my bed, went for a physician. 
But for his providential succors, I should often have 
perished, — the victim of my follies. One night I was 
assailed by a butcher whose jealousy I had excited. He 
was about to plunge a large knife into my back, when 
my guardian, ever on the alert, arrested his arm, 
tripped and disarmed him. And, to drive all thoughts 
from his head, of employing other weapons, he dealt 
him, with the knotty stick which he always carried, a 
blow on the leg and another on the right arm. My 
adversary, quite willing to dispense with any additional 
chastisement, was unable to rise for some time and move 
homewards. 

This dissipated life filled me at times with bitter re- 
morse. I struggled to banish the thoughts which preyed 
upon my heart; but my very struggles aggravated my 
wretchedness and tortured me with mortal agonies. 

Sometimes I bewailed my lot, I wept, I tore out my 
hair in despair. When the post brought me a letter 
from my mother, I turned pale at the sight of it, as if 
the characters traced by her hand were so many wit- 
nesses and accusers of my disorders. The letters of 
my sister, breathing the very spirit of piety, sweetness, 
and love, crushed me : I was afraid to touch, lest I 
might defile them. I trembled in every limb when I 
opened and read them. 

Impelled by these emotions, I sometimes took refuge 
in a church ; but there new tortures awaited me. I 
dared not lift my eyes to the altar but with bowed 
head and a burning sense of my profligacy. I pro- 
mised to amend my life. But, alas! remorse is not 


THE UNIVERSITY. gp 

repentance. Why did I not arise and lay down the 
burden of conscience at the confessional? 

The priest would have encouraged me, divine grace 
have fortified my resolutions. Here is the difference 
between the simple Christian and the philosopher. The 
former falls from time to time; but he humbles him- 
self, seeks mercy and strength in the virtue of the 
Sacraments : the latter is self-reliant, and, therefore, 
impotent for good, and miserable in evil. Still, to be 
just to myself, I must state that, in spite of my ex- 
cesses, I never wholly discarded the high and hereditary 
sentiments of an ancient • race, and the distinctive 
qualities of a good education, which belong to the true 
nobleman. The world now-a-days disowns this truth ; 
it affects to reduce society to a vulgar level. It is 
more repugnant to the scion of a noble house, than to 
a man of abject birth, to abase his mind and heart by 
dissolute habits. Vice is more accessible by the latter: 
it is his next-door neighbor. And therefore the de- 
basement of the noble is deeper, — in fulfilment of the 
words of Scripture : “ Corruptio optimi pessima.” 

In the midst of my disorders, I had not divested my- 
self of the courtesies and polished demeanor of the high- 
toned gentleman. At times I even conformed to the 
* dignity and generosity of my class. There was at the 
university a large number of students born of noble 
but decayed families. These youths had conceived the 
magnanimous design of restoring the ancient renown 
of their lineage, and they devoted themselves to study 
with the fairest prospect of success. They subjected 
themselves to many hardships and privations. The 
spectacle of their virtuous struggles excited my com- 
passion, and I was proud and happy to succor them in 


82 


LIONELLO. 


their embarrassments. Thus I won the affection of 
nearly all my fellow-students. 

I chanced one evening to free a poor girl from the 
insults of two rascals. I used my riding-whip liberally 
at their expense, and made them quickly decamp. The 
friendless female wept and trembled excessively. I in- 
quired about her state and circumstances. She told me 
that she was without work, notwithstanding her efforts 
to procure it, and thus was unable to prepare a little 
soup for her aged father; — that she had gone out 
to ask alms of some charitable person, when she had 
the misfortune to meet with these worthless fellows, who 
insulted her. I accompanied her home, and found her 
old and infirm father lying on a bed, shabby, but ex- 
tremely clean. Around the walls of this little room 
were hung several old pictures of the saints, and on 
the top of a closet stood a statue of our Lady of Seven 
Dolors, under a glass case. A small lamp burned be- 
fore it and lighted the apartment. 

Near the window I noticed a chair, and a work-table 
bordered with a ledge, a little cushion to which females 
pin their work, a tambour with small pendant weights 
for netting, a supply of embroidery-needles, and, oppo- 
site, a tapestry-frame. 

On the other side,, next the wall, was the young girl’s 
bed, bearing, like every thing else in the house, the 
marks of poverty, but also of perfect cleanliness. 

As we entered the room, the old man spoke 

“You are soon back, Giustina. Does our Lord deign 
to help us? But who is that with you?” 

“ Don’t be uneasy, my dear father : it is a good gen- 
tleman who wishes to ascertain if my father is really 
old, weak, and blind.” 


THE UNIVERSITY. 


83 


I then approached him, and put a dollar in his hand. 
He immediately seized mine, and strove to kiss it. I 
was moved even to tears. To calm my emotion, I said 
to the young girl, — 

“ Giustina, (since this is your name,) when you have 
no work, come to such a street, No. 30, second story.” 

I left the house with a happy heart. This happened 
in December; and, in spite of my vicious life, I con- 
tinued during the whole year to protect the virtue and 
innocence of Giustina. 

On another occasion, when my heart was alive to 
worthier sentiments, I was sauntering almost alone in 
the beautiful church of St. Anthony, and admiring the 
wonders of art which make this basilic one of the no- 
blest monuments of Upper Italy. 

I was standing before the main altar, a little to one 
side, in order to study the effect of the sculptures with 
which Donatello, Sansovino, and other great masters 
elaborated the shrine with such artistic talent and 
piety. Whilst I was absorbed in my contemplations, 
my eye fell on a young female kneeling on the first 
step, at the foot of a column, near the statue of the ^ 
saint. She was praying and weeping, and so overcome 
by her feelings that she seemed about to swoon in the 
presence of her saintly protector. Her maiden coun- 
tenance wore the impress of a profound and lively sor- 
row; her soul shone from her eyes in the ardor of her 
supplications. They expressed, in rapid succession, 
hope, confidence, fear, and anguish. Her forehead was ' 
bedewed with perspiration, and her limbs shook with 
the agitation of her mind. 

Her appearance warranted the belief that she was 
not of a menial condition. She wore a white muslin 


84 


LIONELLO. 


dress, a red and blue shawl, and held in her hand a 
white handkerchief, with which she wiped her face and 
eyes. We were alone in the church. Without pausing 
to reflect on my action, and seemingly unable to resist 
the impulse, I approached her gently, and said, in a 
low voice, — 

“ Young lady, can I be of any service to you?” 

The poor girl started with a convulsive movement; 
she paled and blushed in the same moment. She rose 
from her knees, and, with downcast eyes, replied, — 

“ Oh, sir, may St. Anthony touch your heart ! I want 
nothing for myself, but ask only the loan of twenty se- 
quins, to save my mother’s life!” 

“How is that?” 

“ I have lost my father, sir. He was a professor of 
medicine at the university, and supported himself and 
family with the emoluments of his office and consulting- 
fees. A few years since, he fell a victim to his studious 
habits. My mother’s pension is moderate, but suffi- 
cient for our wants. But my brother, who is stationed 
at a garrison in Dalmatia, and who for some time past 
has been sick, costs us a great deal. To help him in his 
present embarrassments, my mother and I work night 
and day. But my poor mother, owing to her exertions, 
is confined to her bed for the last two months. Our 
rooms cost us ten sequins a month. We have been un- 
able to pay the first two quarters’ rent, and now one 
month of the third quarter is already past. The pro- 
prietor is a close and unfeeling man : he has tortured my 
mother with a thousand reproaches and threats. Dis- 
tressed at the sight of her dejection and prostrate con- 
dition, I went to see him, and entreated him to grant 
us a little delay. His only reply was abusive language. 


TIIE POLICE PRISON. 


85 


To-day he sent an officer, and declares that he will turn 
us out and distrain our furniture, if we do not settle 
with him to-morrow in full.” 

“Ah ! the scoundrel !” I exclaimed. “ By St. Anthony, 
that shall not be! Show me to your house, my dear 
young lady, and at twelve o’clock to-night you shall 
have the twenty sequins.” 

She left the church, and pointed out her residence. 

At midnight I carried her not twenty but thirty 
sequins. The good mother declined taking more than 
twenty; but I insisted, and said, — 

“It is better to guard against fresh anxieties for the 
ten ensuing months.” 

I cannot express the grateful sentiments of my two 
prot£g6s. Then I was able to appreciate the true de- 
lights of money well spent, according to the designs of 
Providence; whilst the perversion of its gifts serves 
only to multiply our wants, inflame our passions, and 
involve us in deeper miseries. 


„ CHAPTER VIII. 

THE POLICE PRISON. 

In the third year of my law-studies, one of the most 
celebrated danseuses of Italy arrived (for my misfortune) 
at Padua. She raised around her a storm of envy, 
jealousy, and the wildest passions. She became, indeed, 
in a measure, the exclusive object of the thoughts and 
attentions of all classes of society. Alas ! what paltry 
8 


86 


LIONELLO. 


pursuits can prepossess the heart when it is estranged 
from God, its true and only end ! 

Pagan society in ancient times, with all its sensual- 
ism, was less devoted than ours to mere personal 
charms. It was reserved for an age which vaunts its 
civilization, its superior judgment of the good and the 
beautiful, to grow enamored of the ignoblest members 
_ of the body, of the foot which is often sullied with 
mire. 

And men love it, dote upon it, idolize it so madly, 
that the foot of the dancer may be regarded as a 
celestial object, as the liveliest expression of love. To 
the foot they offer their affections, sighs, homage, incense, 
adoration, — worthy divinity of a carnal heart, which thus 
venerates its pagan origin ; extravagant worship, drawn 
, from the mysteries of Eleusis and consecrated by the 
follies of pantheism. 

It is not wonderful that a spirit so wanton as mine 
should, like Holofernes, be enslaved by external attrac- 
tions. I was captivated by the elegant sandals of the 
dancer, her graceful attitudes, elastic movements, rapid 
evolutions, sylph-like step which scarcely tipped the 
floor, pirouettes with the left foot horizontally extended 
under a short skirt, whilst the bust was charmingly 
outlined, and the wavy arms upheld a flowery wreath. 
This is the ravishing scene which enchains the heart, 
blinds the mind, intoxicates the senses, inflames con- 
cupiscence, dissipates fortunes, destroys peace, sullies 
honor, tarnishes renown, enfeebles strength, perverts 
good sense, abases the loftiest spirit, and urges men to 
homicide and self-murder. The homage paid to the 
dancer’s foot has become a religion, more cruel and 
bloody than the worship of Saturn, Moloch, Siva, and 


THE POLICE PRISON. 


87 


Mithra, who require human victims to be slaughtered 
on their altars. It gluts itself with the lamentations 
of wives and mothers, with the blood of duels and 
suicides. Five or six danseuses, in the space of a few 
years, have sacrificed more victims than the most san- 
guinary assassin of Young Italy. 

At this hour I comment calmly and justly on my 
errors ; but at that epoch, I surpassed all her partisans 
in my frantic admiration of the danseuse of Padua. I 
do not speak of the rivalries among the students, the 
disputes at the coffee-houses, the wagering of fabulous 
sums to have the front seat in the theatre. One day I 
gave twenty dollars for the honor of personating the 
shoemaker’s journeyman and carrying her sandals into 
her perfumed boudoir. I gave nearly as much to her 
hair-dresser for the privilege of carrying his combs, 
bands, pomades, and curling-tongs. I thus assisted at 
her toilette, and handed him the flowers and diamonds 
to adorn her tresses. I seized on a stray hair which 
remained in the comb, kissed and preserved it as a most 
precious relic. I paid a round sum to her mantua- 
maker for a small cord attached to her morning gown. 
I enclosed it in a golden reliquary, and wore it round 
my neck. If the danseuse chanced, in walking across 
the stage, to touch me with the hoop of her skirt, I 
passionately kissed the coat which had been honored 
by the contact. Shall I acknowledge it ? Once, after 
the performance, I flung myself on the floor to kiss the 
very spot on which she stood. Thus did I abase the 
nobility of my birth beneath this divinity of the shoe. 
Eeader, you smile with pity, and I blush for shame. I 
was then a young man, free and uncontrolled, and I 
made myself the slave of a thousand follies and caprices. 


88 


LIONELLO. 


I learned that the slipper of a danseuse is costlier than 
the diamond. Heroes of Italy, expel from your country 
the stranger and his dancing nymphs, and then you 
may think of coping with the armies of Croatia. 

The woman who fascinated the students of Padua was 
an enemy to mortal combats. Her triumphs were the 
sighs, despair, follies, of her adorers; her crowns were 
woven not with laurel-leaves, but with roses ; her 
trophies were formed not from swords and helmets, but 
odes, sonnets, and madrigals. I composed many of 
these poetic trifles, and, as soon as they issued from the 
press, scattered them about the streets and in the boxes 
of the theatre. Above all, I was careful to throw them 
on the stage, that the feet of the goddess might impress 
on them a sacred character, as the winged Pegasus with 
a stamp of his foot produced the fountain Hippocrene. 

The Carnival was drawing to a close, and the dancer 
had an engagement to fulfil at Triest. Thither I de- 
termined to precede her. As the Austrian police do not 
discriminate in favor of enchantresses and their attend- 
ants, I was anxious to elude all suspicion in regard to 
my own person. I accordingly procured the passport 
of a certain Venolli, of the province of Adria, and, pass- 
ing the pen through the two Z’s, I set out under the 
name of Venotti. There was sufficient resemblance 
between us in height and color of hair. At Venice I 
took passage in the Lloyd steamer, and, after a pleasant 
voyage, reached Triest. I put up at an unpretending 
hotel, and there awaited with impatience the arrival of 
the light-footed danseuse. Every morning and evening, 
I bent my steps to the harbor, and there for hours, I 
stood motionless, with eyes fixed upon the deep sea, 
scanning the horizon with my telescope, like merchants 


THE POLICE PRISON. 


89 


who watch for the return of their ships from Odessa or 
the Indies. The sight of every sail which loomed in 
the distance thrilled my heart with hope; and every 
column of smoke which arose from the bosom of the 
waves made me cry out, “There she is at last!” 

When any vessel entered the port and cast anchor, 
I examined it with my glass, noticing each individual 
who passed into the boat ; and if there were a lady in 
the company, I eyed her until she put her foot on the 
pier. But ten, twelve, fifteen days went by since the 
Carnival, and no dancer appeared. I was bursting with 
rage and senseless love, whilst the object of my worship 
was gayly whiling the hours on the promenades of 
Venice and laughing at the simplicity of the students 
of Padua. 

Meanwhile, night after night, I played at billiards 
with some of the cleverest clerks of Triest. During the 
day they were confined at their desks or busied with 
mercantile operations ; but from supper- time till a very 
late hour of the night, they sought a compensation in 
all kinds of pleasures. After a few evenings I was 
beggared. But the gambler is not troubled with false 
shame. Under divers pretexts, I asked the loan of 
money of different individuals. I readily obtained all 
that I asked. The young men of Triest are exceed- 
ingly kind, amiable, open-hearted, and honorable. True 
to their commercial instincts, they regard as their 
essential virtue, the strictest exactitude, — as the greatest 
crime, the breach of a man’s word. I had stipulated 
only for a short term; and the days glided by rapidly, 
without my overcoming my hesitation to apprize my 
mother of my foolish expedition and embarrass- 
ments. My sufferings were intense. I bewailed my 
8 * 


90 


LIONELLO. 


miserable plight; paced my room like a crazy man. 
The landlord had learned from the police that I was a 
gambler, and indulged me with no long credit. Every 
third day, I had to settle my bill. 

The appointed day to meet my engagements arrived, 
and I was overwhelmed with confusion. There was 
no escape. The young gentlemen who had loaned me 
money called in, one after another. Their polite and 
dignified conduct aggravated my shame and distress. I 
begged them to excuse my want of punctuality, as, 
owing to some miscarriage, my bills of exchange had 
not arrived. They begged me not to give myself any 
trouble about it : they knew that these mishaps were 
not unfrequent, and they had perfect confidence in my 
honor. 

Two lines of frank acknowledgment to my mother 
would have relieved me from this painful predicament; 
but I could not prevail on myself to do it. Foolish 
pride, like an iron bit, held me in check. In the silence 
of night, I formed excellent resolutions; but when the 
day appeared, and I sat down to write, I spent hours 
in devising absurd and criminal plans to impose on my 
mother. One evening, I was stretched on the sofa, a 
prey to poignant thoughts, when I heard a knock at 
the door. A man entered, dressed in black, and ac- 
costed me with freezing civility : — “ I am, sir, a com- 
missary of the Government. Be good enough to accom- 
pany me.” 

These words flashed a sinister light on the gulf 
which I saw beneath my feet. Pale, trembling, covered 
with a cold sweat, which streamed from every pore, I 
stammered out, “ Where do you take me?” “To the 
office of the police,” was his reply. “ Take your hat, lock 


THE POLICE PRISON. 


91 


your door and give the key to the landlord.” I left 
the room, and at the bottom of the stairs I saw two of 
the commissary’s subordinates, who let us go ahead. 
I deposited the keys; and we proceeded, followed by the 
two guards. I walked like a man bereft of reason. Dur- 
ing my stay at the university, I had often been caught 
in desperate straits ; but I braved all perils with 
singular audacity. Now I was as timid and powerless 
as a child. We reached the station and passed through 
the front door. The officer stopped before a large hall, 
and said to a burly man dressed in breeches and a 
white vest, with a large cravat which imbedded his 
chin, “ Prosdocimo, have an eye to him.” The other 
answered, “Of course: don’t I know these lads?” The 
commissary took his departure, and I stood fixed to 
the spot, looking around with a bewildered eye at the 
massive walls which enclosed me. They were pierced 
here and there with narrow windows, through which 
strayed the light of a lamp in the outer court and 
showed, in bold relief, the strong iron bars. In a 
corner was a large fire, around which flitted unsightly 
forms of men, who put fagots under a pot hanging from 
a lame and rickety trevet. 

The gruff voice of the stout man awoke me at length 
from my torpor. He turned toward the fire, and said, 
growlingly, “ Meneghetto, No. 6.” A young man, 
heavy and thick-set, stepped out. He wore green 
breeches, a velvet sack, and sash of red silk. He took 
down from a hook a bunch of large keys, lit a candle, 
and, starting ahead, said, “Come, master: let us be 
packing.” Terror-stricken, I seized his hand, and said, 
“Where are we going, sir?” The turnkey looked at 
me hard, squeezed my hand kindly, and touched, no 


92 


L 1 0 N E L L 0. 


doubt, with pity at the sight of my youth, gentlemanly 
air, and deadly paleness, replied, “ Cheer up, young- 
ster : it is only for to-night : to-morrow, I expect, they’ll 
let you rut.” 

“But am I not in prison?” I exclaimed, with quiver- 
ing voire. 

“ In prison ? No. What put that in your head ? 
The convict-prison is not here. This is only a house 
of correction.” 

“ Bo you intend to heat me ?” 

“ Beat you ? Oh, no. We never heat folks here.” 

Ha led me into a small, low, black, dismal corridor; 
and then through several doors, each fastened with 
three heavy padlocks, a massive bar, and a bolt. 
Winn he got to No. 6, the under- turnkey inserted the 
key into the lock, shot back three bolts, one after the 
other, opened the door, and introduced me into my 
cel l 

1 was almost suffocated by the foul and mephitic air, 
which seemed to be exhaled from a sink. The walls 
at intervals were shelved with boards, which were covered 
with sacking and rags. Several men, whose heads were 
hound with handkerchiefs, were lying on these mats. 

As soon as the light appeared, they all started up. 
Some sat upright; others rested on their elbows. I 
had scarcely crossed the threshold, when a screeching 
voice addressed me: — “Ha! ha! here is a night-bird. 
My poor baby, the bed is rather hard here ; but we’ll 
sing you to sleep, in place of mamma.” 

“Silence, you scoundrel!” sternly cried the jailer. 

“ Hem ! hem ! silence there, you fellows ! Here is the 
prince of posies ! Bravo ! what a handsome stripling ! 
what a bridegroom face!” 


THE POLICE PRISON. 


93 


The jailer pointed out my berth, and his assistant 
threw over me a gray cover. In a few moments I was 
left in profound darkness. I trembled and perspired 
in every limb. My teeth chattered as if I had an 
intermittent fever. My head was on fire. I heard 
around me mutterings, grinding of teeth, remarks of 
my companions, and, above all, the harsh accents of 
the man who had greeted me on my arrival : — 

“You there, can’t you give us your name? Come, 
do us that honor!” 

I made no answer, but turned convulsively on my bed. 

The other continued: “Just see now! there’s inso- 
lence for you ; the gentleman won’t condescend to speak 
to fine fellows like us. Very well ! to-morrow’s coming.” 

“Hush your blab, and respect the first sorrows of 
the prisoner.” 

These words were uttered with a solemn voice. The 
buffoon sneeringly rejoined : — 

“ Shut your mouths, my darlings : grandpapa, you 
see, wants no joking to-night.” 

“Let us go to sleep, master bully,” exclaimed a 
worthy inn-keeper of Pusteria, annoyed by this clatter. 

“Oh, certainly!” said the buffoon; “certainly, my 
prison-dove; certainly, my pet, my precious one: I 
won’t say another word ! Good-night.” 

What a horrible night for me ! It seemed as if my 
head would split, and my heart leap from my bosom. 
My palate was burning with thirst, my tongue parched, 
my respiration rasping through my teeth like a file. 
My bones were broken by the rude couch on which I 
lay, and my body devoured by the filthy insects which 
maddened me. 

After prolonged agonies, the dawn at length ap- 


94 


LIONELLO. 


peared, and I began to scan the interior of this den. 
My God! What a hideous spectacle! My companions 
still slept ; some pale and wasted, some bony and mus- 
cular. From the covering protruded their feet, cased 
in old shoes, worn to pieces, or mouldy with damp. 
Some had buried themselves in the bedclothes, and 
one, who had partly thrown them off, exposed a 
ragged shirt, foul and stained with wine. I looked 
with disgust on those heads bound with tattered hand- 
kerchiefs, or covered with filthy night-caps, through 
which the hair bristled with shaggy tufts, or hung in 
masses moistened with sweat. 

One of them, on awaking, stretched himself, yawned, 
and cracked his bones ; another, seated on his bed, wet 
his bleared eyelids with spittle. A third, but half 
awake, grunting like a hog, munched a crust of bread 
and a slice of bacon. 

I began to think I was in a dream ; but my aching 
bones convinced me that I beheld a reality in this 
horrid cess-pool of human miseries. 

0 loving and anxious mother! bathed in perfumes 
and couched on silk, art thou thinking of Hello, thy 
unhappy child? Sweet sister ! pure, innocent Joseph- 
ine! dost thou see thy brother, plunged in filth and 
ignominy, and stretched on a pallet fit for a galley-slave ? 

Had I been shut up alone in my cell, I would have 
felt less miserable. The wretch who is lost to all 
honesty and shame loves the congenial villains with 
whom he can disport, curse, blaspheme, and sin with- 
out restraint. But the man who has not reached this 
depth of misery recoils from the vile gang into which 
he is thrown, and prefers to their society the tower- 
dungeon, the cistern, the sepulchre ! 


THE POLICE PRISON. 


95 


In a short time, all the inmates of the room were 
awake; and then their mingling voices swelled into 
a noisy tempest. They rounded their “good-morn- 
ing’' with imprecations, told their dreams, swore 
against the bugs, cursed the churlishness and brutality 
of the jailers, spies, and policemen. They loudly pro- 
tested their innocence. “Ah!” they cried, “if the 
emperor was here, we would make those puppy-tyrants 
dance: we are innocent.” “Yes, innocent as babes,” 
chimed in a voice of a sallow and withered man, with 
an enormous mouth, and a flat nose ending in a rasp- 
berry snout, — “yes, innocent as babes.” And he puffed 
his cheeks, scratched his forehead, sank his head be- 
tween his shoulders, and thrust out his quivering 
tongue, like a snake. 

“You ugly buffoon!” said a Tuscan; “at whom are 
you making faces? Thunderation ! I don’t know what 
keeps me from ” 

“Ho! ho! fire! fire! Bring a bucket of water! 
quick! Our Tuscan’s all in a blaze!” 

This was the very joker who had saluted me when 
I entered the room. His pallet was opposite to mine. 
I could scarcely breathe, or prevail upon myself to 
rise, when this mischievous devil leaped from his 
boards, frisked about the room, faced me at length, 
and, setting his arms akimbo, saluted me with a hor- 
rible grimace. 

He raised one foot, shut one eye and squinted with 
the other, jutted out his chin and noisily smacked his 
lips, clattered with his feet, and, rapidly advancing to 
my side, lifted the cover, in which I had wrapped my- 
self to the eyes. 

I was boiling with rage. Seeing my indignation, he 


96 


LIONELLO. 


bounded back, and cried out, “ Whew ! what a chicken ! 
what an angelic phiz ! Hey ! here's a star fallen from 
the skies into the midst of devils!" And he continued 
to wriggle his ugly face at me. But just at this mo- 
ment, a huge fellow sprung from his bed, seized my 
torturer by the arm, and sent him spinning round the 
room. “Not another word out of you," he bawled, 
“or I’ll smash that handsome snout of yours!" Then, 
turning to me, he said, with a civil and friendly air, 
“Gret up, young man, and don’t mind him." I seized 
his hand, thanked him, and followed his advice. I 
wore a superfine cloth coat, lined with black silk, ele- 
gantly braided, and adorned with arabesque buttons, 
a blue velvet vest, olive merino breeches, superb boots 
of English leather, and a large satin cravat pendant 
over a very fine linen shirt. When the prisoners 
noticed my genteel dress, some laughed in their sleeve, 
some pitied me, some manifested their contempt. But 
my friendly giant gave them a stern look, as much as 
to say, “Take care what you are about; remember 
he is under my care.” This man proved in his own 
person the necessity of social government, and held 
sway over these turbulent prisoners. He was a Roman 
by birth, but for several years had been a thriving 
goldsmith at Venice. Unluckily, he had been engaged 
in some smuggling transactions, and thus subjected 
himself to the penalties of the law. His unstained 
honor, gentlemanly manners, frank and determined 
character, and facile kindness, which had involved him 
in present difficulties, gave him an influence over these 
bandits which no one dared to contest or thought to 
escape. 

And yet Triest, the mart of the East and of the Austrian 


THE POLICE PRISON. 


S7 


empire, had gathered there the arrantest knaves and 
most determined swindlers. Thirty-five prisons, besides 
ours, confined a large number of commercial brokers, 
keepers of gambling-houses, rope-dancers, adventurers, 
sharpers, jugglers, forgers, itinerant exhibitors of dogs 
and monkeys, the most adroit rascals, pickpockets, 
receivers of stolen goods, pretended paralytics and 
subjects of catalepsy and epilepsy. It was, in fact, the 
receptacle of the sworn enemies of law and honor. But 
the prime gem of this beautiful mosaic was, unquestion- 
ably, the famous Momoletto Zinzin, who had twice 
thrust himself upon me with his impudent grimaces. 
He was a juggler who figured in the thoroughfares. 
His joints and bones were as loosely hung and elastic 
as a kitten’s. He rolled his body into a lump and 
trundled it, in the twinkling of an eye, from one end 
of the room to the other. He scampered on all-fours, 
and darted between a man’s legs with the agility of a 
mouse. At other times, when the prisoners were lying 
down, or seated on their beds, he suddenly jumped 
into the middle of the room, threw his legs into the 
air, and with his right foot made the most ridiculous 
bows to each individual. Then, jerking himself out, 
and falling heavily to the floor, he feigned all kinds 
of pains, and uttered the most comic complaints. These 
pranks invariably produced shouts of laughter. His 
nearest neighbor covered him with a pile of bedclothes, 
but he soon crept through an opening, and, squatting 
on his haunches, mimicked a cat washing her whiskers 
or watching a mouse-hole. He performed the part of 
a monkey to such perfection that no one could keep a 
grave face. 

Sometimes he made crumb balls and pitched eight or 

9 


98 


L 1 0 N E L L 0. 


ten into the air at the same time, caught them as they 
fell, and then showered them rapidly like a jet of water. 
But his great feat was counterfeiting a mocking-bird. 
By the aid of a straw stem, he cheated the ear with the 
varied modulations of the nightingale, the cry of the 
thrush, the whistle of the quail, the round, abrupt 
notes of the blackbird and pinnock, the twittering of 
the ortolan, the warbling of the chaffinch. The melody 
of the whole feathery tribe was at his command. 

He was a perfect Noah’s ark. He mewed like a cat; 
barked, yelped, and growled like a dog ; grunted like a 
hog ; brayed like an ass. Often at night, you might 
fancy that legions of cats were prowling in the prison. 
Under the beds and in every corner were heard the 
snarling of dogs, the wailing of pewets, the screeches 
and hoots of owls. He was a ventriloquist who played 
many antics. Now we heard ourselves called outside 
of the cell ; now we caught the moans of a wounded 
man, the cries of a lost child for its mother, the quick 
challenge of a sentinel, “ Who goes there?” He was, in 
fact, one of the cleverest rogues. 

The other prisoners were not equally unconcerned at 
their fate. They had wives and children and respect- 
able parents. Their business was interrupted; their 
law-suits were suspended ; and in some cases convictions 
hanging over their heads. At certain hours we re- 
marked the frequent visits of a young, gentle, and 
modest-looking female. She was the wife of a tailor 
charged with swindling ; and she seemed deeply morti- 
fied to see her husband in prison, and herself in the 
company of felons. She spoke to him through the 
window, and brought him some dainties, fresh fruits, or 
a few tarts nicely made. To procure him these dainties, 


THE POLICE PRISON. 


99 


she was obliged to work all day and a good portion of 
the night. Her brightened face told the delight of her 
heart in thus being able to allay the misfortune of her 
husband. 

Other women, wan and wasted with hunger, and 
covered with rags, came with their children to weep 
over their unhappy lot. We gave them some of our 
bread. It was a cruel spectacle to the wretched 
prisoners, who by their crimes had plunged their 
families in disgrace and misery. 

And Lionello ! Lionello, the great aristo of the 
university, the handsome Adonis of the theatre and 
coffee-houses, the child of fortune, the scion of a noble 
race, delicately nurtured at home, signally honored in 
the world, is now in prison for a grievous misdemeanor, 
despised, scorned, debased to the level of the refuse of 
society. This thought rankled in my heart night and 
day. It was a poignant, deep, deadly remorse, which 
cut me to the heart and crushed me to the earth. I 
was engrossed with one idea, — to conceal my name and 
family by every device. It is unquestionable that 
Government generally introduces spies among the 
prisoners to ferret their secrets; and by this means it 
often succeeds in foiling the most skilfully planned 
villanies. It is equally certain that revolutionary 
societies have, unhappily, their spies and proselytes in 
these dens. Many of this gentry tried to entrap me 
with their artifices ; but I baffled their efforts, and pre- 
tended not to understand their proceedings. 

I was not equally successful at the police court. 
Summoned by the prefect to avow my condition, I 
determined to sustain myself with falsehoods. But I 
soon found my master, and was driven to the wall. The 


100 


LIONELLO. 


prefect declared that I was a student of Padua; that 
the name of Venotti was not registered in the province 
of Adria ; that I had falsified my passport, — an offence 
which rendered me liable to the galleys. I vainly pro- 
tested my innocence, and adhered to my assumed name. 
He told me he would send me to Venice and Padua, and 
thus ascertain the truth. 

On our passage from Triest to Venice, by the way of 
Palmanora, I came to the conclusion that my falsehoods 
would be discovered and myself dishonored. I there- 
fore planned an escape from the hands of the agent, and 
tried to avail myself of divers pleas to effect my pur- 
pose in the hedges, cornfields, or underwood of the 
forest. But the keen and merciless commissary held 
me tight in his talons. Hopeless of escape, I resolved 
to destroy my life. We stopped at an inn, and I asked 
for a glass of wine. It was my intention to crush the 
glass between my teeth, and swallow the fragments. 
But the officer had his eye on me, and, at the first sound 
of the breaking glass, he struck me with his fist on the 
nape of the neck, and obliged me to disgorge at once, 
glass, wine, and mouthfuls of blood. The only result 
of my attempt was a fever which preyed upon me 
during the rest of the journey. Truth compels me to 
acknowledge that the commissary treated me with the 
utmost civility. He did not reproach or bind me. 
When we took lodgings for the night, he ordered his 
bed to be placed next to mine, and appointed a man to 
watch over me. In the carriage he often offered me 
oranges and other refreshments. Did he know my 
family ? I think not ; but this idea embittered all his 
acts of kindness and generosity. 


THE HOSPITAL OF ST. SERVOLO. 1Q1 


CHAPTEB IX. 

THE HOSPITAL OF ST. SERVOLO. 

At Venice my fever was aggravated to an inflamma- 
tion of the brain, which rendered me frantic. I 
screamed and howled; I threw myself from my bed, 
struck, and kicked, and bit, like a mad dog, everybody 
who approached me. It was found necessary to put 
the strait-jacket on me. Four lusty assistants of the 
hospital seized me and thrust my arms into the fatal 
garment ; one cased my legs with an iron girth, and then 
shackled my feet; another fastened the jacket behind 
my back, and rendered me powerless. They then 
placed me in a gondola, and transported me to the little 
island of St. Servolo. 

This lunatic-hospital is under the care of the Brothers 
of St. John of God. It is an admirable work, in view 
of the eminent charity which it designs, of the sublime 
devotion which it pays to suffering humanity. 

How infinitely superior to all the institutions of 
Protestantism and an infidel philosophy, to the fairest 
theories of human science. 

These good monks apply the true remedy, that 
charity which exalts and ennobles suffering, by uniting 
it to the voluntary sufferings of Christ. I shall ever 
regard these men with sentiments of deep love and 
respect. 

Whenever I passed through a city through which 
they had been called to exercise their beneficent min- 
istry, Lyons, Florence, Naples, Eome, Milan, I never 

9* 


102 


LIONELLO. 


failed to visit them. I entered St. Servolo fierce as a 
tiger; I left it meek as a lamb. Would to God that 
my passions had been extinguished with my fever ; or 
that they had been purified into a celestial flame, to 
consume all evil in my heart and dispose it to virtue ! 
When the frenzy subsided, I enjoyed some days of 
tranquillity. Thanks to the tender care of the good 
fathers, I gradually regained my bodily strength and 
the use of my reason. I loved to watch the nice and 
skilful manipulations of the pharmaceutics. Some of 
the brotherhood were excellent physicians and sur- 
geons. 

A portion of this vast and magnificent edifice was set 
apart for the more unmanageable patients. They were 
confined in separate cells, well lighted and ventilated, 
but strongly guarded by iron bars in the windows which 
fronted the sea. At the bottom of the windows open- 
ing on the corridor was inserted in the wall a turn, 
through which food was conveyed to the inmates. Here 
these unfortunate creatures could appease their hunger 
when they felt disposed to eat. The interior of the 
cells presented a distressing spectacle. Some were 
fastened hand and foot to their beds with cotton band- 
ages. They writhed and curved their backs, yelled, 
foamed at the mouth, ground their teeth, bellowed like 
mad bulls. Others were plunged in cold baths, or 
placed under icy douches; but great precaution was 
taken not to overchill the head and heart. 

Some of those who were less restrained, gnawed their 
shirts, bedclothes, and every article on which they 
could lay their hands. Others stood in the middle of 
the room, like statues, erect and motionless, for hours, 
with their arms crossed on their breast and their eyes 


THE HOSPITAL OF ST. SERVOLO. 103 

fixed in a vacant stare. One day a keeper said to me, 
“ Do you see that man ? He is perfectly still ; and yet, 
if you entered his cell, he would tear you in pieces with 
his teeth and nails/’ 

I was deeply moved with compassion, and I said to 
the lunatic, “You would not hurt me, would you?” 
As I spoke, I passed my hand partially through the bars. 
He approached me, and pressed my fingers affectionately. 
Tears trickled from my eyes, and I said to myself, 
“ What is the power of love!” Perhaps if he had been 
on the first attack of his malady intrusted not to ser- 
vants, but to these excellent religious, he might have 
been soothed and calmed by their kindness. In fact, 
the key to their successful treatment is love and gentle- 
ness. 

Some doubled their fists and brandished their arms, 
blasphemed and vented their rage in oaths and curses. 
Others lay supine on the ground, or sat with their 
heads bent to their knees. One refused to eat; another 
howled furiously ; another clutched the iron bars as if 
he expected to wrench them from their fastenings. 
Thus man, the noblest creature of God, is bereft of his 
reason, and transformed into an animal fiercer than the 
most savage beasts of the forest. Only a divine charity 
can approach these masterless hearts and tame them 
into submission. And this charity, more than maternal, 
is exercised in Catholic hospitals by celibates, who con- 
secrate their bodies and souls to God, who devote their 
youth and all their faculties to the relief of their suffer- 
ing brethren. 

The empire which they obtain is the victory of gentle 
looks, kind words, bland manners, the charm of reli- 
gious modesty. This charity fires the hearts of many 


104 


LIONELLO. 


physicians in the world, who rival the cenobites of St. 
John in their devotedness to the unfortunate, and merit 
the confidence, the applause, of society and religion. 

In a lunatic-asylum there are harmless freaks which 
claim our pity, because they betray the loss of man’s 
noblest privilege; nevertheless, in spite of ourselves, 
they excite mirth by their drollery and fantasticalness. 

In crossing the yard of these crazy people, I often 
witnessed actions characterized by wisdom and folly. 
Thus, one day two of the patients met near me, and 
exchanged looks of mutual astonishment. The follow- 
ing dialogue passed between them : — 

“ What ! you here ?” 

“Ah! you know me? You know, then, that I am 
Napoleon.” 

“To be sure I do. I saw you at Moscow. I was 
the man who first set fire to the Kremlin.” 

At these words the pseudo-Napoleon cast an indig- 
nant look on his companion, shook his head, and con- 
tinued his walk; the other smiled, rubbed his hands 
with great glee, and marched off in an opposite direc- 
tion. A madman stopped me one day, and, seizing my 
arm, whispered into my ear, with the most confidential 
air, “You are crazy.” I do not think any one ever 
told me in my whole life so sound a truth or in so frank 
a manner. Another fancied himself to be a doctor, and 
tried to feel everybody’s pulse that he met. He said to 
me, on a certain occasion, with the most serious face, 
“ My friend, the razor-system has drawn from the veins 
of men as much blood as would suffice to turn all the 
mills and feed all the workshops of Paris and London 
for a month.” 

A lunatic called himself the brother of the sun, and 


THE HOSPITAL OF ST. SERVOLO. 1Q5 

in the hottest weather stood motionless for hours in the 
open air with uncovered head, whilst the sweat poured 
down his limbs. All the time he seemed delighted, as 
if he were enjoying the most refreshing shade. 

One morning I was accosted by a young man with a 
prominent stomach and bloated cheeks. On the side 
of his face he was deeply scarred. He planted himself 
directly in my way, and said, — 

“What are you looking at? This scar is not a 
woman's scratch ; it is not the sign of a love-duel ; but 
it is a sabre-cut which I received during the Crusades in 
single combat with the Sultan of Babylon." 

“Ah! indeed?" I replied: “you are a great Paladin, 
then?" 

“What! you don’t know me? I am Tancred. The 
great Godfrey de Bouillon loved me more than Binaldo, 
who emasculated his courage in the enchanted gardens 
of Armida. Oh ! what a shame ! Friend, call my 
squire ; bid him saddle my war-horse. I will mount 
and ride even to the ends of the world to rescue this 
degenerate warrior from his insensate love." 

He left me, humming the words, — 

“ Meanwhile Hermenia, ’mid the forest shades.” 

He had been a respectable actor, a gay and amiable 
companion, a man of generous temper. One day, after 
having drunk deeply, he mounted a table, and, flourish- 
ing a glass, began to make a speech. He fell, and cut 
his cheek with the broken glass. From that moment he 
became quite deranged, sang Tasso’s poems, and called 
himself by turns Binaldo, Bohemond, or Baldwin. 

The ordinary fancy of these madmen is to consider 
themselves metamorphosed. One imagines that he is 


106 


LIONELLO. 


changed into a guitar, and with his left hand he plays 
on the right placed on his bosom as chords. Another 
regards himself as a cat, and mews ; another a frog, and 
hops and jerks his limbs, as if he were swimming in a 
pond ; another is ever fighting with flies. This one is 
a soldier; that a king, and all whom he meets 
are squires, chamberlains, aid-de-camps, body-guards, 
pages, secretaries. And he flies in a passion when 
they do not bow before him and salute him with the 
title “Sire” or “Your majesty.” 

But the queerest of these madmen was a little fellow 
with olive complexion, solemn face, robust limbs, and 
bandy legs. He fancied himself the most daring and 
skilful navigator that ever traversed the Southern seas. 
I do not know whether he had ever been a sailor, or 
had merely read many histories of voyages and mari- 
time discoveries. He certainly spoke with as much 
pertinence of all the islands of Polynesia and Oceanica, 
as if he had marine charts before him. He described 
accurately the harbors, bays, promontories, cliffs at 
the mouths of rivers, safe anchorages, and even hidden 
reefs. 

He pictured the manners of the savages of Hew 
Guinea, New Zealand, Tahiti, Bladac, and the Sand- 
wich archipelago with such exactness that you might 
imagine yourself suddenly wafted to those distant 
regions. You saw distinctly their costumes, figures, 
color, stature. You saw their features, — the nose flat 
or upturned; the lips thick and prominent, or thin and 
compressed; the hair long and silky, or short and 
smooth, or combed and dressed in divers fashions. 
You saw too their complexions, — white, reddish, yellow, 
copper, black ; their faces protuberant or sunken, round 


TIIE HOSPITAL OF ST. SERYOLO. 207 

or elongated; their skins tattooed or painted, covered 
with lines, circles, ronndlets and small stars on the 
face, breast, arms, and entire body. 

He gave us a clear idea of these savages, — in part of 
a quiet, pacific temper, in part harsh, cruel, sangui- 
nary. Here they bring fruits and come in their 
canoes to the sides of the foreign ship ; there they fly 
from the strangers, discharge their arrows at a dis- 
tance, or fight hand to hand with their maces. Some are 
intelligent, others stupid. Some steal every thing on 
which they can lay their hands ; others stand amazed at 
all they see; they laugh, jump, clap their hands. In a 
word, our visionary was a second Cook, a La Perouse, 
a Dumont d’Urville. When he was in good humor, 
the crowd gathered around him and listened with de- 
light to his minute and accurate narratives. I was 
astonished at his prodigious recollection of names, 
places, and usages. He was evidently only half crazed. 
The mania existed in his imagination. 

One day I met him alone, and accosted him with a 
cheerful air: — 

“Well, captain, what news?” 

“ Don’t you see?” he replied. “We are doubling Cape 
Horn. Call the boatswain, and let him order the 
helmsman to veer ship six points. You booby ! that’s 
only three points : I told you to lay her off six. Mate, 
pay out the log, and let us see at what rate we are 
going. Very well ! And you, my lads on the forecastle, 
draw a point in your stay-sails. So. Now about with 
the mainsail and the bonnets.” 

“ Captain, we are making two and a half knots.” 

“ That’s doing very well. You younkers want to fly 
like swallows; but an old salt takes things coolly. We 


108 


LIONELLO. 


are now sailing on a calm sea. It was not so in 
February, 1820. We were on board the Urania, com- 
manded" by the invincible Freycinet. We were doub- 
ling Cape Horn, when a dead wind struck us right in 
the teeth and cast us on the Falkland Islands. But, 
alas ! we suffered shipwreck where we hoped for 
safety.” 

“Ah, indeed, captain? You sailed with Freycinet 
in the Urania, and made the voyage round the 
globe?” 

“To be sure I did; and, besides, I was a non-com- 
missioned officer on board. On my return to France 
after this expedition, I embarked in the Conchilia 
with the adventurous Duperry, companion of the 
famous Dumont d’Urville and Lesson. But I will not 
rest satisfied till I discover the axis of the antarctic 
pole.” 

“ It must be enormous. But it is likely to take fire 
from the rapidity of its rotations. You ought not to 
go too near it: it might burn you.” 

“ Oh, no ! The ice of those seas keeps it cool.” 

“Well, if that’s the case, you can, when you reach 
that latitude and cast anchor, skate to the very axis 
of the globe.” 

“You are right. There is no other way to reach it; 
and I intend to do so.” 

“ But, captain, tell me a moment : how came you to be 
shipwrecked in the Urania?” 

“I will tell you; but it is horrible to think of. You 
must know that we sailed from Toulon the 17th Sep- 
tember. We passed the Straits of Gibraltar the 5th 
October, and on the 6th December we cast anchor at 
Bio Janeiro. Freycinet stopped there a while to survey 


THE HOSPITAL OF ST. SERVOLO. 1Q9 

the country ; for ours was a voyage of scientific obser- 
vation. On quitting Brazil, we sailed for the Cape of 
Good Hope ; spent a few days at the islands of Maurice 
and Bourbon; then we steered direct for New Holland. 
The Urania, my dear fellow, was like a naiad, breast- 
ing the waves with a light and graceful motion. In 
the Bay of the" Sea-Dogs of Dampier, these animals 
played around her like the Tritons round Galatea. 
Thence we made the island of Timor, where we 
recruited. The inhabitants are blackamoors, woolly- 
headed and finely formed. There we found also 
Chinese and Malays trading with the Portuguese and 
Dutch. The Timorians exchange salutations, not by 
embracing, but by pinching each others’ nose.* They 
practise tattooing, and in their habits resemble the 
other tribes of Oceanica. 

“We now directed our course to the Moluccas, and 
the western cape of Guinea, along the neighboring 
islands Bawak, Waigion, Boni, and Babarei, taking 
note of the climate, metals, plants, and people of these 
forests. The Urania sailed the 9th June, 1819, for the 
Admiralty Islands, the Archipelago of the Carolinas, 
even to the Mariana Islands. Hence we parted to 
enter on the broad waters of the Pacific, and stopped at 
the beautiful island of Hawaii. King Tamea-mea was 
dead, and his subjects were warmly disputing about a 
successor; but Freycinet calmed the tempest by an 
eloquent discourse, and persuaded them to proclaim 
Bio-rio King of the Hawaitians. 


* Doubtless the members of Italian unity, discovered at Naples in 
1830, borrowed this practice from the Timorians. For they, too, 
take one another by the nose in exchanging salutations, and give a 
tap on the cheek as a mark of recognition. 

10 


110 


LIONELLO. 


“ The interpreter, Bive, a Gascon and former cabin- 
boy, who pretended to be a physician in the island, 
accompanied us in our visit to the queen-mother 
Kabou-manou. Arago took her portrait and the 
portraits of five other queens. Oh, my dear fellow, you 
can form no idea of the beauty of this royal class ! The 
lightest of these five queens weighed four hundred 
pounds. Picture to yourself five sea-cows, five ele- 
phants, squatting on mats, with enormous paunches, 
ashy complexions, huge, wide, flat noses, lips that 
looked like two sausages, and faces to boot, smeared 
with vari-colored paint; and tell me if Correggio or 
Albani could have produced such odalisques. I shall 
not recount our voyage to Mawi, nor, on our depart- 
ure for the Sandwich Islands, a second voyage to 
Jackson. From this place the Urania was crossing 
the South Sea, when she was struck by an adverse wind 
and cast on the Falkland Islands. We tried to enter 
French Bay. It was the 14th February, 1820. The 
sea was calm, and a light breeze swelled our sails and 
urged us ahead. But just as we were entering the 
mouth of the bay, the ship’s bottom struck on the ridge 
of a coral-reef. ‘To the pumps!’ was the universal 
cry; and each one worked with a will. But the 
pumps couldn’t clear the ship of one-tenth of the water 
which poured into her. 

“The poor Urania fell on her beam-ends and settled. 
It was night. We waited for the first streaks of dawn 
to get aboard our boats, into which we stowed the 
powder and biscuit which we were able to save from 
the wreck. Providence came to our aid. We espied a 
sea-calf, and killed it. It weighed more than two thou- 
sand pounds. 


THE HOSPITAL OF ST. SERVOLO. m 

“On this desert island we obtained abundant supplies 
from fishing and hunting. We found large droves of 
beeves and wild horses grazing in the forests. We had 
other resources. An immense whale had got entangled 
among the shoals. In spite of his gigantic efforts, the 
torrents of water he spouted from his nostrils, and the 
fierce lashings of his tail-fin, he could not extricate him- 
self. We fired at him twenty times, but the balls of 
our guns glanced from his back as from a rock. One 
of the boldest of the crew leaped upon the monster’s 
back, and began with an axe to cut, to dig into this 
mountain of flesh. He made a large opening, grappled 
with a harpoon, and fastened the whale to a rock. But 
at high tide the whale floundered so violently that he 
parted the rope, and got an offing. But he was ex- 
hausted by the attacks made upon him and cast ex- 
piring on shore by the waves. We extracted from him 
plenty of flesh and oil. 

“ It was the month of April, and the rigorous winter 
of the antarctic regions had begun. Our doom seemed 
fixed. At length, however, an American whaler ap- 
proached the bay. Freycinet had signals made, which 
were perceived. The vessel anchored near our colony, 
and carried us back to Bio Janeiro. We left, the 17th 
of April, and reached that port about mid- June. Frey- 
cinet bought a fine ship, on which we embarked, and 
landed at Havre, after a safe passage, and a cruise of 
three years and two months.” 

I had scarcely quitted my navigator, when I heard 
loud and fierce cries as of persons engaged in deadly 
broil “ Help ! help ! Hold him ! Murder !” 

I asked of an infirmarian who was passing, what was 
the meaning of this uproar. 


112 


LIONELLO. 


“ Nothing at all,” lie replied. “It is the mad folks 
that are making that outcry as if they were fighting an 
enemy. They are alone, and there would be no more 
danger if they were all together.” 

This incident reminded him of the marvellous disco- 
very of an atrocious crime, whilst he was attending 
the insane-hospital of Verona. 

“An assassin was heedlessly carrying past the hos- 
pital a bag in which he had put the mutilated limbs of 
his victim, to be thrown into the Adige. The murderer 
was seized with a panic, as he heard the cries of two 
madmen: — ‘Look out! Stop him! stop him!’ He 
dropped the bag, and fled as fast as he could run, as if 
the whole body of police was at his heels. 

“At daybreak, some pious women, who were going to 
mass, in passing that street, found the bag. What was 
their horror, when they saw a human head, arms, and 
legs, covered with blood ! 

“ The police, apprized of the fact, began to investigate 
the matter. Strange to say, a button, torn from the 
assassin’s coat, where he let the bag fall from his hand, 
betrayed him. 

“ The spies had been busy for several days, but always 
returned to the police-office mortified at their fruitless 
efforts, like dogs unable to stir the game. One of them, 
renowned for his expertness, declared that it was the 
most impenetrable mystery he ever knew. In reply to 
some reproaches of the prefect, he protested his zeal 
and activity. Just as he is leaving the room, the pre- 
fect notices that a button is missing from his coat. He 
calls him back, and rings his bell. An officer appears, 
and he bids him summon two carbineers. 

“ He tells the spy that he wishes him to accompany 


THE HOSPITAL OF ST. SERYOLO. 

these men and hunt out two bandits in the gardens of 
the Spanish bastion. When the carbineers enter, he 
says, ‘ Seize that man, and bring him here.’ 

“ The assassin pales and trembles. The prefect orders 
him to approach, takes the button and the shred of 
stuff attached to it, and on examination finds it to suit 
exactly, in form, color, and place, the button which he 
had lost. 

“ The assassin acknowledged his crime. He stated 
that his victim was a man returning from the fair with 
a few hundred crowns. His father, to whom he com- 
municated the news, assisted him in the murder. They 
had cut him up, and put the limbs in a bag, to be flung 
into the Adige. 

“They were both hung. The son showed signs of 
repentance, and asked pardon of God; the father died 
obdurate and impenitent in his crime." 

The infirmarian added: — 

“Be assured the eye of Providence is ever open on 
crime. Sooner or later God will divulge it. He pene- 
trates consciences; he scrutinizes hearts; he waits for 
the conversion of the sinner; but he never fails to 
punish iniquity.” 

The fire of my heart was now somewhat subdued, 
and I began to reflect seriously on my position. On 
the one hand, I felt a lively remorse for the disorders 
which had debased and subjected me to so many hu- 
miliations for the sake of a miserable dancer. On the 
other hand, I was overcome with shame at the idea of 
falling again, after my recovery from sickness, into the 
hands of the police. I was struck with the bright evi- 
dences of humanity, courtesy, complaisance, in these 
good religious. Their superior was a learned and affable 
10 * 


114 


LIONELLO. 


old man. I came to the conclusion that I would be an 
arrant fool not to avail myself of this favorable oppor- 
tunity to rise from the depths of misery into which I 
had been plunged. The means were at my disposal. I 
had to be but true to myself. 

Reassured by these reflections, I seized the moment 
when the superior was alone to accost him. I expressed 
my desire to confide to him my troubles, to ask his 
aid and counsel. The good father welcomed me with 
touching kindness. He begged me to open my heart 
to him frankly, and rely on his will to serve me to the 
best of his power. He acceded to my wish to consider 
my revelations as confidential; and then I recounted 
to him my early life, and all my subsequent disorders 
and misfortunes. I told him, moreover, that I had at 
Venice a noble and rich grand-uncle, by whom I was 
greatly beloved. 

The excellent religious was deeply moved at the re- 
cital of my wanderings, and by the idea of the danger 
I had incurred of bringing disgrace on my name and 
family. He was lost in thought for a few moments : 
and then, with a look of paternal tenderness, he told 
me that he would undertake to settle matters with the 
police, meet the legal costs, and cancel my debts. Re- 
animated by the hopes which he inspired, I vowed to 
rise to a loftier position, worthy of a Christian and a 
nobleman. 

In the space of two days, the monk had made every 
arrangement with my uncle. At midnight I was rowed 
in a gondola to his palace. 

I disclosed to him the entire amount of my debts 
and loans. At once the money was deposited with a 
banker. As they were strangers to my name, I took 


THE HOSPITAL OF ST. SERVOLO. H5 

care to have a handsome gratuity remitted to the 
warden and the jailer of No. 6. I ordered also for my 
fellow-prisoners an entertainment for Easter, of capons, 
viands, tarts, Grecian wine, and comfits. 

But I imposed the obligation on Zanetto of perform- 
ing, one hour after dinner, his finest tricks , — the wheel , 
siren , &c. I obtained from my uncle the liberation of 
my protector, the goldsmith. 

After this escape from all my difficulties, I bade my 
kinsman farewell. 

Apprehensive that the police, aware of my name, had 
informed the rector of Padua of my misconduct, I de- 
termined to return by way of Mestre, Treviso, Bassano, 
and Vicenza, leaving Padua to my right. But, on my 
arrival at Bovigo, a most painful idea completely oc- 
cupied and disturbed my mind. With what face could 
I revisit my home? How could I support the upbraid- 
ing looks of my mother, if she had learned that I had 
been thrown into prison as a cheat and associated with 
malefactors and brigands? 

How could I dare to impress my lips on the pure 
and chaste brow of my sister Josephine? How could 
I venture to show myself to my friends, visit my re- 
latives, or walk the streets of the city? And — this was 
the most insupportable thought — how could I confront 
my own servants? They might say, “Here is our mas- 
ter, Count Lionello, who has escaped from the galleys 
under a monk’s habit.” I was so tortured with these 
thoughts that I had not the courage to go home. I wrote 
to my mother, and told her that the air of Padua was in- 
jurious to my health; that, unable to visit her until I 
had completed my legal studies, I had made up my mind 
to repair to Bologna. From that city I promised to write 


< 


116 LIONELLO. 

to her, and begged her, meanwhile, to send me a draft. 
I soon acted on my resolution. At Bologna I took a 
suite of rooms at the Hotel St. Donatus, and began to 
frequent the society of the students and enjoy the 
charms of this city, which is one of the most agreeable 
places of sojourn in all Italy. The air is pure. The 
faces of the people are cheerful, their manners court- 
eous, their hearts affectionate, their minds facile, 
their character open and vivacious. A person might 
with unwearied spirits frequent their reunions, refresh 
himself in the coffee-houses or confectionery-establish- 
ments, promenade under the porticos of the Pavilion, 
ascend the hills, and visit the charming villas of the 
suburbs. 

But, unhappily for me, serpents were lurking under 
the flowers. In the assemblies and places of amuse- 
ment, crafty seducers were to be met, whose deadly 
malice none could escape unprotected by the shield of 
faith. They had so many expedients at command, they 
planned their enterprises with such extraordinary con- 
cert, that they succeeded, at length, in inveigling the 
boldest and most intrepid students who had some know- 
ledge of university life and distrust of these tempters. 

It must, however, be admitted that the revolution- 
ary poison was infused only into vitiated hearts. Pure 
and candid souls escape their pernicious influence. 
They conceive quicker presentiments of evil ; they feel 
a livelier horror of these workers of iniquity. The 
reading of Voltaire’s works, and a treacherous philo- 
sophy, had seduced my mind : the unrestrained indul- 
gence of my passions completed my ruin. I no longer 
saw the truth; or, if I saw it, I was devoid of courage 
to embrace it. 


THE VENDITE. 


117 


A young man of the Romagna, gloomy in disposition, 
and utterly corrupt in heart, was the first to plan my 
destruction. He had heard that I was rich, presump- 
tuous, rash; and he pursued me with unabated zeal 
until he had ensnared me. He began by lavishing 
delicate attentions and flatteries upon me, by inflating 
me with magnificent promises. 

He regarded me as a man of noble soul, generous 
heart, exalted understanding! I was capable of the 
grandest enterprises! Italy loved me as a son, and 
hailed me as her deliverer ! She showed me her bosom 
gashed by tyrants, her arms manacled, her livid feet 
shackled as a slave’s ! 

I was the man, in union with men of my character, 
to effect her salvation ! 


CHAPTER X. 

THE VENDITE AND THE SECRET PROPAGANDIST OP 
CARBONARISM. 

The more I reflect on the means adopted by the 
revolutionary party in 1829 to organize a general con- 
spiracy, the deeper is my amazement, in spite of my 
Carbonarian principles, at the blindness of European 
Governments. The signs of the approaching crisis were 
evident, the intrigues of the conspirators manifest, their 
measures bold and sanguine. But rulers regarded us 
as an indolent cook watches the cat nosing about a 
dish. The cat waits till the eyes of the cook are for a 
moment withdrawn, then pounces upon the savory 
bit, and flies away with its prey. 


118 


LIONELLO. 


At Bologna, many, blind to the ominous times, allowed 
themselves to be seduced by tbe charm of novelty, 
kost of the professors of the university were men dis- 
tinguished by their scientific attainments, signal pru- 
dence, solid judgment, and unshaken loyalty. But 
some of their number openly encouraged insubordina- 
tion and revolt. They, in turn, entertained the students 
at their houses, walked with them under the porticos 
of the university, and said, in a low voice, “ Italy is 
tired of slavery; she has fallen from her ancient great- 
ness ; her princes and nobles hold her abased in the 
mire; her hopes are centred only in the youths of 
the country.” When the conduct and language of 
any professor were repeated to the police, the officers 
shrugged their shoulders, and said : — 

“ Great geniuses have always their crotchets. Let 
them croak a while, provided they do nothing to give us 
trouble.” 

And they laughed at the oddities of these learned 
Utopians. 

In nearly all the universities of Italy, conspiracy was 
taught, covertly and openly. These schools of mischief 
intercommunicated their plots, resources, artifices. They 
were woven into a woof by the revolutionary shuttle.* 
The aged Duke of Modena kept spies in all the uni- 
versities, capitals, and courts of Europe. He was ever 
on the alert ; he stimulated princes, and apprized them 


* Italy, in regard to her professors and the doctrines which they 
taught, was happier than France and Germany. But slight causes 
produce immense mischief. In some universities, the conspirators 
were more guarded, through fear of the Government; but they 
worked the more banefully in secret. Judge of the seed by the fruit 
brought forth in 1848. 


THE VENDITE. 


119 


of current events. He knew the most secret intriguers, 
men who were in the service of rulers to watch their 
movements, master their secrets, worm into their con- 
fidence, avert or frustrate their projects. 

And rulers gave themselves as little trouble about 
this state of things as they would about the affairs of 
Congo and Monomatapa. But it is surpassingly mar- 
vellous that the Duke of Modena, so sharp-sighted 
to his neighbors’ condition, was so blind to his owp, that 
he did not perceive the same perverse spirit at work in 
his own city and palace, — at his very chamber-door. 

He salaried, and honored with his confidence, the very 
men whom he denounced to others. Secret societies 
have divers degrees of mystery. You may follow them 
to the third or fourth degree ; but beyond this you be- 
hold an impenetrable labyrinth. 

Princes, and the police, often select in high society 
the principal agents to perform, in secret, low offices. 
Were I to say that the high light of the Carbonari was 
neither count, marquis, colonel, nor general, I probably 
would not be believed. Were I to add that this func- 
tionary is a shoemaker, a jeweller, or a hatter, people 
would exclaim, “Humbug!” And nevertheless, was it 
not a band of low-born knaves who upset the throne of 
Louis Philippe, though it was sustained by a garrison 
of one hundred thousand soldiers, by well-appointed 
artillery-corps, by abundant munitions of war and im- 
pregnable ramparts, by a sharp-sighted police, and 
ministers who were masters of political science? 

Thus the princes of Italy, in 1829 and 1830, sported 
around the monster which was soon to devour them. 

Towards the end of 1830, Maria Louisa, Duchess of 
Parma, esteemed as a model loyalist a man whose name 


120 


LIONELLO. 


stood prominently on my list among the most audacious 
Carbonari. The following February, she saw him at the 
head of the insurgents, and, as she was entering her 
carriage with her lady of honor, she eyed him disdain- 
fully, and said, “He is another Judas.” To this sarcasm 
the traitor replied by wishing her a pleasant journey. 

Conspirators were plotting in the court of the Duke 
of Tuscany; but with more timidity, reserve, and pru- 
dence. They lay concealed at first, awaiting outbreaks 
at Borne and in Lombardy. 

Charles Felix, King of Sardinia, was in delicate 
health. For ten years, he had steadily refused to par- 
don the rebels of 1821. But, at this very moment, 
traitors were weaving revolt around his bed, and so 
well had they prepared the warp, that General Cavas- 
santi, commander of the royal carbineers, could not 
succeed in unravelling it. Had not the conspirators of 
Modena, Parma, and the Bomagna anticipated by a few 
days the appointed time of insurrection, Piedmont, with- 
out pity for its dying monarch, would have been in open 
rebellion.* 

One evening in June, I was present at a supper-party, 
on the Saragossa road, with a lawyer, two professors of 
the university, and a number of young men. When we 
were at the dessert, and the wine had begun to stir our 


* General Cavassanti was a man of chivalric spirit, signal cou- 
rage, and unstained loyalty. He had a son at the College of Turin. 
He knew that the conspirators intended to strike the first blow by 
an attack on the institution, seize the students and hold them as 
hostages for their fathers, who were members of the nobility, min- 
isters of the crown, generals, and senators. He went to the supe- 
rior, and said to him, “To-night, men have been seen prowling 
around the college and examining the basement-windows of the in- 
firmary. One of them observed, ‘We can scale the wall and enter 


THE VENDITE. 


121 


blood, the subject of Italy was introduced, and her pre- 
sent condition discussed, with a freedom of opinion and 
with proposals of redress which would have appalled the 
most courageous monarch. Among other things, the 
following remark was made : — 

“As long as kings despise us on one hand and fear us 
on the other, we have rare sport with them.” 

“Come, come,” said the lawyer, “you must not let 
the wine of Scandiano, which is ordinarily the light of 
truth, involve you in these contradictions of contempt 
and fear. These sentiments are utterly at variance.” 

“You are a lawyer,” rejoined the first speaker, “and 
you have a right to abhor contradictions. You are very 
positive on this point; and doubtless it is the wine of 
Scandiano which enlightens the eye of a man like you, 
who know how to ally faith and perjury, honor and 
dastardliness, the devil and the saints. Still I maintain 
that we thrive on the contradictions of princes and 
governments.” 

“Please explain your theory.” 

“Theory? We deal with facts. Do you want proof ? 
Listen, and see if I assert any thing but the truth. 
For several years we have written and proclaimed that 
opinions are free, that appliances for the advancement 
of liberty cannot be misdemeanors, that opinion rules 
the world, that enough has been said to deafen princes 
and ministers. If a prince discovers a conspiracy, he 

by this story.’ I advise you to bar your windows well. I am un- 
willing to withdraw my son, and thus create alarm in families and 
injure the college. I put my trust in God’s providence.” He re- 
turned next day, and said, “If the revolt does not break out to-night, 
the victory is ours.” On the morrow, the revolt was suppressed, and 
this generous father proved that he made paternal affection subor- 
dinate to love of country. 


11 


122 


LIONELLO. 


is more embarrassed by the discovery than by the ex- 
plosion against himself. On one side, he feels the ne- 
cessity of acting with decision and violence; on the 
other, he fears, from every quarter, the tirades of the 
press denouncing him as a Nero, Caligula, Tiberius, — 
executioner, and monster of the worst dye.* 

“He dreads, moreover, other Governments, which 
amuse themselves at his predicament, and criticize the 
measures of his ministers. In fine, if the prince has no 
sympathy with the rebels, he receives a despatch from 
a higher European Power, in which pleas are entered, 
and appeals made to his generosity, magnanimity, in- 
vincible power. His moderation is extolled to the 
skies, his eminent wisdom glorified, his paternal ten- 
derness invoked. Surely, that amiable heart cannot 
shed the blood of his beloved subjects !f 


* Francis IV., Duke of Modena, had reason to know this in the 
person of Ciro Menotti, who betrayed his master, from whom he 
had received so many favors. He was seized in his own house, with 
more than forty other conspirators ; and, whilst the duke was pro- 
mising him pardon provided he pledged his word to amend his 
life, he basely fired at his benefactor. His house was stormed, him- 
self made prisoner and condemned to death. All Italy may re- 
collect the maledictions poured on the head of this great and gene- 
rous prince. Others were not so deaf to the cries of the conspirators. 
The Echo of Mount Blanc said, “It is beyond question, that France 
and Austria decreed to destroy, in Switzerland, this threatening 
focus of conspiracy, but their courage failed at the vociferations of 
the radical press.” (15*A March, 1852.) 

| This was the general system of European policy since 1830, — a 
system especially upheld by Louis Philippe, and more than ever, at 
the present day, by a powerful minister of one of the greatest na- 
tions of Europe. We cite, as a commentary on this fact, the words 
of a distinguished statesman: — “A fatal system prevails at our 
epoch. Men invoke humanity, excuse error, praise rebellious de- 
signs, scarcely blame an overt act of treason against legitimate 


THE VENDITE. 


123 


“Meanwhile the judges prosecute the offenders, make 
investigations, interrogate witnesses, multiply sittings, 
weigh aggravating circumstances, examine weapons 
and writings, come at length to the sentence which 
dooms a man to lose his head.” 

“His head!” exclaimed a young man. “We have 
but one; and, if that is taken off, good-bye to our plea- 
sant suppers on the Saragossa road.” 

The professor replied, — 

“ It is quite plain that you are a mere novice. The 
judges, of course, do their duty. ‘Whereas, the article 
of the penal code declares so and so; Whereas, the 
depositions have been heard, the indictment proved, 
and the guilt of the prisoner admitted by himself, he 
is condemned to the penalty of death.’ 

“Good people shudder as they read this sentence 
affixed to the door of the tribunal, the columns of the 
palace, the corners of the streets; but, if they read 
on, they will find these words: — ‘His majesty, our 
gracious sovereign, listening rather to the promptings 
of his natural clemency than to the rigorous demands 
of justice, has deigned to commute the penalty of death 
into twenty years’ hard labor.’ ” 

“I breathe again!” exclaimed a young man, who 


Governments. This system is destructive of all principles of justice, 
and more deadly in its applications than if extended to other crimes 
comparatively less atrocious than those which society formerly pro- 
nounced felony and high treason. The assassin, the robber, the 
forger, are direct and dangerous enemies of individuals ; but political 
offenders are pernicious enemies of all society. It is marvellous that 
men, devoid of consideration for the wrongs of individual citizens, 
should, with every evidence of pity, surround, shield, protect, the 
disturbers of order and the public peace, the traitors who assail the 
rights of an entire nation,” &c. — Solaro, D. M. Memorandum. 


124 


LIONELLO. 


was perspiring from terror. “ But twenty years in 
the galleys ! whew !” 

“ Come, now, my dear sir, don't you know the nature 
of these years of clemency?" 

“ I know one thing : each year is made up of twelve 
months.” 

“ Years of twelve months may be reckoned for the 
wretched; but for rebels they scarcely equal six. We 
do not count the nights; and thus the months are each 
reduced to fifteen days. Convicts in the galley have 
always the equinoctial season, — twelve hours night, 
twelve hours day.” 

“ That is to say, their months are only fifteen days 
long.” 

“Yes; but that is not all. You must subtract some 
other small items. A royal prince is born, and that 
values a three years’ abatement of the prisoner’s term. 
A marriage is celebrated at court, and that deducts 
one or two years more. Then a revolt breaks out, and, 
lo ! the Government shuts up shop and decamps. The 
brethren arrive, open the prison-door, break the fetters 
of these guiltless victims, and deliver the martyrs of 
liberty. They put weapons in their hands, and these 
freemen swear roundly that never will they permit a 
despot to cage them again.” 

“I hope,” said the lawyer to him, “never to taste the 
delights of a prison. But if this is to be my doom, I 
shall remember the lesson which you give: I shall 
count the equinoxes, births, and marriages : in the in- 
terim, I will wait on the altar and in the sacristy; I 
shall always find a saint to help me.” 

The professor continued to develop his idea in regard 
to the complex sentiment of fear and contempt which 


THE VENDITE. 


125 


Governments feel for conspirators. Notwithstanding 
his assumption to produce effect, he said, with much 
truth and good sense, “We know that the police 
are cognizant of most of our secrets, schemes, and 
enterprises; but they hold us in contempt. Were it not 
so, they would not permit us to continue our work. 
We acknowledge that there are traitors among us, who 
communicate to princes some of our mysteries which 
they cannot penetrate; but these princes are very 
well aware that we are no strangers to the interior of 
their palaces, council-chambers, and even their escri- 
toires. His majesty, nevertheless, carries the key con- 
stantly in his pocket, and seems no way disturbed.” 

The lawyer observed that the conspirators often 
have in their hands draughts of the most important 
letters and despatches before they reach the envoys 
and ministers to whom they are addressed. The 
society has a key to all ciphers, conventional signs, 
devices, and mysterious practices. But the most in- 
comprehensible mystery is the ignorance and inability 
of Governments to check us. 

Before the outbreak of the Italian Revolution in 
1831, the Vendite (this was the name given to the chiefs 
at the head-quarters of the Carbonari) were in successful 
operation. Their jurisdiction extended from the extre- 
mities of Calabria to the boundary of the Alps; and not- 
withstanding their abortive attempts in 1821, which 
peopled the prisons of Spielberg, the Vendite had 
revived. The fire smouldered under the ashes, ready 
to break forth in destructive flames. The Germans 
were on the alert ; but the Carbonari were prepared for 
the assault. The society encountered difficulties in 
obtaining passports by which its members might cross 
n* 


126 


LIONELLO. 


the frontiers and enter Lombardy. But they availed 
themselves of a thousand pretexts to accomplish their 
purpose and win distinguished proselytes to their nefa- 
rious schemes. 

The bull of Leo XII. against secret associations had 
been widely bruited, and exercised stronger influence 
over the public mind than is generally believed. 
Young men, who, according to Weishaupt, are the 
ordinary aliment of the revolutionary sects, had to 
overcome not only their fear of human justice, but their 
horror of excommunication. The universities, how- 
ever, were the abundant fisheries of the agitators. In 
some cities the young men were more on their guard; 
and in Lombardy and Venetia recruits were sought 
less among youths than among men of mature age. 

Among students, they endeavored to entice the most 
inexperienced. Governments seem little disposed to un- 
derstand — greatly to our advantage — that the nume- 
rous schools in every state promote our designs, and 
that each university is an open market to the Vendite 
of Carbonarism. On the other hand, the multiplica- 
tion of universities is manifestly attributable to the 
alteration in the principles of international law, as 
variable as forms of government. Formerly the only 
basis of studies was the Boman and the Canon law. 
The Italian, the Spaniard, the German, could pursue 
his studies with as much facility in the celebrated Uni- 
versity of Paris, as in that of Padua, Bologna, or Sala- 
manca. 

Protestantism has corrupted throughout Europe the 
fundamental principles of all rights, natural, political, 
Christian ; it has dug away the common foundation of 
laws ; it has concentrated in the heart all the blood of 


TIIE VENDITE. 


127 


a nation ; it has severed every vein in the great body 
of Catholic legislation. Hence the most diminutive 
state clamors for a constitution. 

Where shall we seek the cause of this disastrous 
rupture ? In the system of Weishaupt and his disciples 
— the multiplication of universities. You need not go 
beyond these rendezvous to obtain proselytes. The 
university tempts every laborer to make his sons doc- 
tors. The university is the manufacturer of lawyers, 
physicians, engineers, who settle like a swarm of insects 
on the public treasury. Many, unable to glut their 
desires, seek in conspiracies the realization of their 
loftiest projects and wildest ambition. Monarchs are 
content to live apart with their respective laws, educa- 
tional systems, ecclesiastical jurisdictions, moneys, 
manufactories, and commerce circumscribed by the 
frontiers, thanks to the universal monopoly prevailing 
in each country. But they are blind to the correlative 
fact that the revolutionary party avails itself of this 
national aggregation, of this concentration, to establish 
a society which threatens to absorb the independence, 
to destroy the political existence, of all nations. 

The party is clear-sighted to this issue, and applies 
the doctrines of the universities to the accomplishment 
of its projects. Weishaupt is always the grand master 
in these kind of operations. Some of his disciples, in my 
hearing, have discussed the feasibility of turning against 
the state, weapons sharpened at the university for our 
benefit. One day, when we were assembled, on receiving 
news of the political disturbances of 1831, and were 
examining the obstacles with which rulers might check 
them, the president, an old man of great experience and 
craftiness, said to us briefly, “ Gentlemen, do you know 


128 


LIONELLO. 


the most effectual obstacle they can throw in our way ? 
It is simply to close the colleges of Paris for ten years.” 

Several of the company evinced their astonishment 
at this singular idea. He told them that they studied 
this subject like unfledged politicians. 

“Were ministers,” he continued, “to shut up the 
colleges, they would at once suppress our recruiting esta- 
blishments, and arrest the annual deluge of doctors, who 
are our most efficient aids, as ardent propagators of our 
doctrines and inciters to revolt among the people. 
Suppose that for the space of ten years, collegiate 
faculties discontinued the making of lawyers and doc- 
tors. What would be the result ? The dullest mem- 
bers of the profession would get a large number of clients 
and patients, and, like well-fed dogs, would cease to bark. 

“ Princes are perfectly aware of this fact ; and, after 
the troubles of 1821, they attempted to apply a remedy. 
But we made such an outcry that they were compelled 
to reorganize the universities on the ancient footing. 
Had they been able to regain their thrones, during our 
revolutionary movements in 1831, they doubtless would 
have double-locked the doors of the universities. And 
then? we would have clamored stoutly, and the doors 
would have been reopened.” 

We had at first received these bold theories of the 
old C&rbonaro with some astonishment and incredulity; 
but we subsequently adopted them with a unanimous 
voice. The Carbonari, and the members of societies 
.fully initiated in their mysteries, are more familiar than 
state Governments with the proper measures and means 
to arrest their operations. They are eminently aware 
that their surest stay is a system of fear and non-inter- 
vention. 


TIIE VENDITE. 


129 


These considerations did not strike me during my 
sojourn at Bologna. When I began to reflect, it was 
too late to correct my error. I had not the moral 
courage to retrace my steps and re-enter the path of 
virtue and honor. I allowed myself to be carried away 
by the reveries of imagination. Like a blind man I 
advanced in the downward course of vice. I moved 
heedlessly in the gathering throng of bad companions. 
The artifices of my initiator (this term, in the language 
of the Carbonari, designates the man who enlists new 
associates) succeeded at length in closing around me 
the nets of the Romagnese V endita, whose chief at this 
epoch was at Cesena. 

Some sentiments of filial and fraternal love lingered 
in my bosom. They urged me to re-visit my mother and 
embrace Josephine. But the adventure at Triest, and 
the shame of returning home covered with dishonor, 
combated these desires of my heart. The wily Carbo- 
naro triumphed in his designs upon me. He threw a 
veil over my eyes, and induced me to take that fatal 
resolution which has proved the principle of all my other 
disorders, and of all the disasters of my life. I wrote 
to my mother, and told her that I would spend my 
vacation in travelling, because I had not perfectly re- 
covered from the malady which I had contracted at 
Padua ; and the physicians had advised me to take some 
relaxation. I begged her to furnish me with necessary 
funds. 

Fifteen days afterward, Don Giulio, in company with 
the major-domo, arrived at Bologna. He brought me 
a handsome travelling-equipage, with abundant supplies 
of linen and other useful articles. Don Giulio offered 
his services as a travelling-companion. But I had no 


130 


LIONELLO. 


idea of embarrassing myself with a mentor, and, there- 
fore, succeeded in ridding myself of bis presence. Pro- 
vided with a handsome sum of money, and letters of 
credit on Forli, Pesaro, and Ancona, I feigned an in- 
tention to set out alone. I soon found a companion. 
The initiator was waiting for me at an inn, a mile 
from Bologna. He got into the carriage, and we drove 
to Imola. There we dined, and met a body of friends 
who had been looking for our arrival, partly sworn 
Carbonari, partly candidates. 

At that very period, I noticed how multiplied and 
closely interwoven are the links of that chain which 
unites, in all cities, the members of secret societies. 

We had been scarcely a quarter of an hour at Imola, 
when two young men came in to join us, then a third, 
then other couples, who followed at less intervals. 
They embraced us, and, in a particular manner, shook 
hands, squeezed the thumb with the palm, and pressed 
the wrist twice. Thanks to my master’s instructions, I 
knew the meaning of these mysterious rites. As yet, 
however, I was only a catechumen, and, consequently, 
a stranger to their jargon. They communicated news 
to one another, of foreign countries. They uttered their 
hopes and fears, projects and resolutions. They spoke 
of the courage of some, of the cowardice and weakness 
of others, of the change of magistrates, and recent 
orders of the captains. - 

New members of the association were baptized with 
new names. Thus, my initiator s name, Peter, was ex- 
changed for Alcibiades ; Lorenzo, one of the party, was 
called Cleon; Joseph, another, was styled Aristides ; and 
Louis, a third, was known as Demetrius. Among my 
companions I counted two noblemen, three citizens, a 


THE VENDITE. 


131 


merchant, a carpenter, a police-officer, a tax-gatherer, 
and a servant of the hotel, who, whilst he was setting 
the table, conversed on a perfect equality with the rest. 
His name was Cecchino, but among his brethren he 
was called Titus. He was the cleverest knave of the 
third squadron of the first section. He had the nose 
of a bloodhound to scent travellers who stopped at the 
hotel. The slightest peculiarity, caught at a glance, in 
the look, smile, manner of handling a knife, drinking, 
or asking a question, disclosed to him a brother. He 
threw out at random a conventional word, and, if the 
other caught the ball at the bound, he raised the mask 
and saluted him with the ordinary terms, “ Unto death.” 
Then they exchanged news. 

That night we met the same reception at Forli ; but on 
the following day, when we arrived at Cesena, Alcibiades 
left me, to visit the grand Trafiliere, who was in direct 
correspondence with the Trafilieri of Italy. These men 
hold high positions among the Carbonari. They are 
next in grade to the supreme chiefs, from whom they 
receive immediate orders, and with whom they commu- 
nicate on the most important business. Thus, the Trafi- 
liere of Bologna notifies the Trafiliere of Forli, Pesaro, 
and Ancona of the arrival of a brother, of interests com- 
mitted to his care, of the means to advance them, of cur- 
rent events ; and, if necessary, counsels and aids them. 

The Carbonarist Vendita is divided into Trafile, and 
each of these has its Trafiliere. Under him are second- 
ary chiefs, who are the executive officers in their 
respective sections. The Trafile are subdivided into 
Sections , sections into squadrons. In every city there 
is a regulator, who is styled the High light. He com- 
municates with the Trafiliere, but he is not acquainted 


132 


LIONELLO. 


with the chiefs of the other Trafile. The High light 
is commander of the captains of squadrons; each of 
which regularly numbers ten Carbonari. 

This number has been since increased to fourteen 
members, and sometimes more. When I was enrolled, 
ours was composed of only five associates. They were 
strangers to the other chiefs of squadrons, and to their 
fellow-members. 

The chief of a squadron did not know others of his 
own grade, but only the chief of his section ; and all of 
this last class knew their High light. This fact will 
explain the bootless labors of the police of Turin and 
Genoa in 1831 and 1833. They could not trace the 
threads of the conspiracy, which broke in their hands; 
and had they not unluckily possessed themselves of a 
Trafiliere’s secret list, they would not have succeeded 
in winding up the skein of our operations. 

Besides the High light, the association selects, from 
the cleverest of its members, men for the office of 
enticers, or enrollers. These adepts mingle in society, 
and obtrude into every place, to lure and entrap 
new proselytes. They enter the universities, lyceums, 
academies, military schools, custom-houses, ship-yards, 
warehouses, shops, barracks, factories of workmen, 
and even villages and hamlets. When they have 
gained a recruit, they pass him to the Masters , whose 
duty it is to instruct the neophytes and give them 
some knowledge of the rites and usages of the society; 
of the feints, precautions, subterfuges, and means they 
must employ to elude the vigilance of the legal author- 
ities; of the jargon, signs, and all the secrets which con- 
stitute the mysteries of the first circle, — for we are far 
above the puerile emblems of free-masonry. 


TUB VENDITE. 


133 


Our secret societies, at the- present day, are fashioned 
on the type of the Illuminati. They rise in concentric 
departments, one above the other, and communicate 
their mysteries to the brethren in gradual proportion. 
The last and highest is accessible only to the privileged 
few, who envelop themselves in profound darkness, to 
escape the eye of rulers. The effects of such an or- 
ganization are necessarily terrible in a revolution.* 

Alcibiades, who had enrolled and conducted me to 
the threshold of the temple, returned to the hotel, after 
his interview with the Grand Trafiliere, and told me 
that I was received, and that my baptism would, at 
three o’clock, take place at the house of the High light. 
He had to seek godfathers for me, as also Coverers , 
internal and external. The godfathers stand on each 
side of the catechumen, as witnesses of the oaths which 
he takes ; the coverers are vedettes, or advanced sen- 
tinels, ever at their post to watch and report the hostile 
movements of the police. 

The external Coverers keep guard at the end of the 
street ; the internal , at the bottom of the stairs, be- 
cause the lodges have ordinarily several issues to escape 
in case of surprise. Small doors opening on a stair- 
way are often made in the wall behind the large frames 
of pictures representing a saint, an historical event, 
a landscape. When the frame is replaced, no one 
would dream that it covers a secret passage. 

We left the hotel in fine spirits. It was my first 
visit; and I walked along with eyes roving in 


* By the horrors with which Switzerland, Italy, and Germany 
were deluged in 1848 and 1849; by those which affrighted France 
in December, 1852, rulers could ascertain the infernal spirit which 
animates secret societies. 


12 


134 


L I 0 N E L L 0. 


every direction. As is usual in cities thronged with 
strangers, the crowd gave me a passing look, and then 
moved on to attend to their own business. Alcibiades, 
after a short walk, took us to a coffee-house, where we 
found the brethren. We passed from group to group, 
exchanging salutations, with kind and agreeable chat. 
Alcibiades touched me on the arm, and made a sign to 
two of the fraternity; and, drawing me aside, said to 
us, “ Three hours after midnight, at the house of Cal- 
phurnius, (he was the High light,) — you will be spon- 
sors.” He addressed a third, “We want coverers at. 
three o’clock.” 

On my return, at dinner-time, to the hotel, I found 
the table set for several guests in the room which we 
had engaged. They were awaiting our arrival, and 
reading in a low voice, to while away the time, the 
news of Ravenna, where, a few days before, a police- 
agent had been slain by a gun-shot. 

The wound was mortal, and the man fell to the 
ground. Immediately the brethren gathered in con- 
fusion around him, to give the assassin an opportunity 
to escape by mingling with the crowd. The cry rose, 
“Who is it? — It is such a one. — No. It is somebody 
else. — Good God ! What a state of things ! At mid- 
day, on the public square, a poor father of a family, a 
loyal subject, a faithful officer, is struck down, not by 
the dagger’s point, but by a ball! This is the work of 
those assassins of the secret societies!” “Hush!” ex- 
claimed one of ours, with feigned compassion; “hush! 
Those fellows are within hearing; they may take it 
into their heads to attack us, honest and inoffensive 
folks. They are capable of any thing. Heaven help 
us ! They have their eye upon us. As we come from 


THE VENDITE. 


135 


the evening exercises at Sti Vitalis or St. Apollinaris, 
we may get the stroke of a dagger for onr pains. Let 
ns move off. This is no safe place for us.” 

Meanwhile, the carbineers, with a picket of the car- 
dinal legate’s guard, run to the spot. “ Stand back, my 
good people : make room for the officers of justice.” 

They raise the wounded man and carry him to a 
neighboring room, where he soon expires. But our 
brave Icilius, who had loaded the gun too heavily, was 
wounded in the breast by the recoil, and vomited blood. 
A surgeon is called in. We were much alarmed. The 
police had its suspicions, and kept an eye on him.* 

It was a pleasant dinner-party. The guests com- 
plimented me with many libations on my arrival and 
new consecration. They made frequent allusion to 
the advancement of our society and the future pros- 
perity of Italy. In the evening, we met at the coffee- 
house, played a while at billiards, and partook of some 
refreshments. The several chiefs of squadrons repaired 
to Calphurnius’s house. I followed them, somewhat 
later, with two assistants, or sponsors, and two mas'ter- 
coverers, who conducted me to the place of meeting 
and presented me as a candidate to the Vendita. 

The High light made me a short address, to stimu- 
late my faith, zeal, courage, and perseverance in the 
society. He assured me that he built large hopes on 

* These suspicions were well grounded, as the trial and conviction 
of the prisoner demonstrated. It is not amiss to state here that the 
author has been taken to task by some citizens of Ravenna, because 
he asserted that the murder took place in daylight, whilst, in fact, 
it occurred at one o’clock in the morning. The poor man had heard 
the event mentioned years since; and these gentlemen, from the 
mistake in regard to a few hours, argue that the Jew of Verona and 
Lionello are only tissues of calumnies! 


136 


LIONELLO. 


my accession. I could render subservient to generous 
and glorious enterprises, the nobility of my birth, the 
loftiness of my sentiments, and the wealth of my family. 
The eye of the Yendita would be ever upon me; and, 
though it now looked upon the prostration of Italy, it 
would one day see me, in union with other noble cham- 
pions, restore to our country the crown and sceptre of 
the queen of nations. 

At the end of his remarks, the two assistants led me 
into the middle of the hall, bandaged my eyes, and 
placed their right hands on my shoulders. The High 
light baptized me by pouring some water on my face. 
The Secretary of the Vendita then read to me the fun- 
damental laws of the society, and said to me, — 

“Giulio, (for it is with this name the society baptizes 
thee,) dost thou promise faithful observance of these 
law3 ?” 

I answered, “ I do.” 

“ Dost thou promise obedience to the orders given to 
thee in the name of the society, blind, prompt, stead- 
fast, constant?” 

“I do.” 

“Dost thou promise to keep the secret inviolate 
until death ?” 

“Ido.” 

“Dost thou promise to hold as thy enemies, all 
enemies of the society? to hate them with thy whole 
soul, with all thy heart and with all thy strength ?” 

“I do.” 

“Thou must now take the oath.” 

They then removed the bandage from my eyes, and 
drew aside a curtain of red velvet. Behind was a 
recess like a closet, in which stood a kind of altar, and 


THE OATH. 


137 

two lighted candles at the sides of a pedestal. In this 
was stuck a triangular dagger, on one blade of which 
was engraved the motto, Fraternity ; on the second, 
Death to traitors ; on the third, Death to tyrants. The 
High light took it up, showed me the second motto, 
and spoke : — 

“ Place the palm of your hand on the point of the 
dagger, and repeat after me. I swear to keep faithfully 
the promises which I have made. If I prove false, may 
this poniard cleave my heart. From this very moment 
I authorize any member of the society to slay me if he 
find me recreant ; as I, in like circumstances, will spare 
no traitor.” 

I took the oath. The curtain was redrawn. The 
High light kissed me on the forehead; the others 
clasped my right hand in theirs, and, placing the left 
on my shoulder, kissed me on the mouth.* 


CHAPTER XI. 

THE OATH. 

The horrible oaths which I took after the baptism 
of the Carbonari, give the import of those kisses which 
were impressed on my forehead and lips by the High 
light and the two master-assistants. This rite typified 
the nature and form of secret societies. All my asso- 

* These are no longer mysteries. These practices were brought 
to light, not only in the prosecution of the members of the “Italian 
Unity” at Naples in 1850, but in all the journals of France, by the 
trial and confessions of the communists of the Mountain in 1852. 

12 * 


133 


LIONELLO. 


ciates had pledged themselves by the same oaths to 
murder false brethren; and yet all these men had given 
me a kiss, the holiest emblem of friendship and love. 
This is the love of secret societies, — deadlier than the 
hatred of barbarians. It is a mockery ; for how can I 
pretend to love a man sincerely, into whose heart I will 
to-morrow, without personal grievance to redress, plunge 
a dagger at the simple behest of an unknown tribunal 
which has doomed him to die ? And — crueler thought ! — 
the friend of my soul, who requites my love, must stand 
prepared to assassinate me at the first command which 
he receives. 

And yet there are men in the world so besotted as to 
enter without dread these infernal societies ; to enslave 
themselves by blind obedience to a tyrant whom they 
do not know ; to hold themselves in readiness to perpe- 
trate the foulest enormities which at any moment may 
be exacted of them ; to expose themselves, in fine, to 
receive a mortal blow from the host who entertains 
them at his table, and the companion who shares their 
bed. There are young men who denounce, as hard, 
degrading, insupportable, the authority of a father, the 
chidings of a mother, the legitimate government of a 
state. And, nevertheless, with inexplicable inconsisr- 
ency, they submit to a vile, stupid, infamous bondage, 
under the iron yoke of unseen chiefs, implacable inqui- 
sitors,* ruthless and sanguinary assassins, f 

* Witness the thirteenth article of the Italian Unity : — “Before affi- 
liating a candidate, there must be a rigorous examination of his past 
life, family, and friends. After he has been admitted, the inquisi- 
tors must keep a watchful eye upon him.” 

f In the Italian Unity, assassins are called the executive committee. 
In July, 1849, the supreme council determined to establish a stab- 
bing committee. 


THE OATH. 


139 


The adepts who occupy the highest position in the 
society are called Invisibles. They wrap themselves in 
profoundest mystery, as perfect strangers to the initiated, 
and still more to the candidates or novices. It thus 
often happens that, without being suspected, they 
mingle with their brethren in hotels, sit side by side 
with them at table and at the theatre, discharge public 
duties as colleagues. The inquisitors are darker than 
night, subtler than the devil, shrewder than weasels, 
more sharp-sighted than lynxes. They are ubiquitous. 
Nothing escapes their eyes and ears. They note, scru- 
tinize, report, ponder, every event and circumstance. 
And what folly it is to affirm that there is freedom in 
these secret societies, which exercising an authority 
more terrible than that of the ancient Vehmic Courts 
of Westphalia., surround, beleaguer, and everywhere 
condemn you ! The brother who gives you a kiss to- 
day may give you a stab to-morrow. 

This is the character of their friendship and frater- 
nity, in spite of their disclaimers and charges of 
falsehood. No one has enjoyed ampler opportunities 
than myself to ascertain this fact. And this remark is 
applicable not only to the Carbonari, but to the mem- 
bers of every secret society, even the most recent; 
which is crueler and more treacherous than its pre- 
decessors. I have tested the value of their friendship, 
and I illustrate my assertion by the following ex- 
ample 

A few years since, there lived in a city of Central 
Italy two young men, united by the friendliness of a 
virtuous neighborhood and the bonds of relationship. 
In their studies and diversions they were inseparable 
companions. They were intimate as brothers. At 


140 


LIONELLO. 


length they left home to pursue their legal studies at 
the university. They lodged at the same hotel and 
occupied the same chamber. They frequented the same 
society and used one another’s wardrobe. Theirs, indeed, 
was a beau-ideal friendship. One of them was of noble 
birth, but of reduced fortunes, and, consequently, had 
to economize his allowance. The other was the son of 
a rich merchant, who did not stint his expenses. The 
latter insisted on being sole paymaster, with a delicate 
generosity which evinced the sincerest friendship. 

The nobleman, Albert’s father, died deeply involved, 
and left his widow unable to meet his obligations. She 
wrote to her son that her poverty compelled her to call 
him home. When Marino heard the news, he said to 
his friend, “Albert, I will never suffer you to return 
until you have finished your course. Write to your 
mother, and tell her that I will bear your expenses and 
provide for your wants.” 

To meet this additional charge without informing his 
parents, Marino denied himself many of those pleasures 
and comforts which most young men enjoy. 

Soon after he had taken his degree as Bachelor of 
Law, Albert fell into the hands of a propagandist of the 
Carbonari. He was so surrounded with artifices and 
lures, that he became an ardent promoter of the society, 
and finally drew into its snares his unfortunate friend 
Marino. 

Albert’s temper was proud, enthusiastic, fearless to 
excess; his imagination, lively and restless; his mind 
ductile; his will, resolute and sometimes headstrong. 
The character of Marino was open, generous, candid. 
He was irascible, yet easily appeased; compassionate to 
the unfortunate, liberal and courteous to his friends, 


THE OATII. 


141 


complaisant in his words, noble in his deportment. 
Albert, sharing Marino’s chamber and purse, devoted 
himself with great ardor to his studies, and received 
his diploma. 

He returned home with his benefactor and friend, 
whose kindness alleviated many domestic trials. 

But the Carbonarist Vendita, keenly perceptive of 
talents in its associates, was sensible that Albert could 
render it important services; and therefore employed 
him as an agent in most perilous enterprises. As it was 
found necessary to discuss secret measures with mem- 
bers of the association in different provinces, the mission 
was intrusted to Albert. He was furnished with a 
large sum of money, and a forged passport. He got 
into the public coach, and set out as a young gentleman 
making a tour. Owing to imprudences which he had 
committed in his passage through certain places, or to 
the suspicions of the police, which he had aroused be- 
fore his journey, he was arrested at an unexpected mo- 
ment. He had just arrived in a city, and, as a rich 
nobleman, entered the best hotel, with the intention of 
spending there a few days in order to discharge the 
duties assigned him. 

The Governor of the province, eminent for his pene- 
tration and adroitness, regarded him with an unfavor- 
able eye. He went to the hotel, and, taking the waiter 
aside, said to him, — 

“Do you want to earn ten francs? Get me that 
stranger’s pocket-book for a few minutes.” 

“That’s impossible, your excellency; for he keeps it 
always in his coat-pocket.” 

“ If that is all, there is little difficulty. Does he not 
take coffee after dinner?” 


142 


LIONELLO. 


“ Yes, your excellency." 

“Very well: when you hand him his coffee to-day, 
contrive by some awkwardness to spill a little on his 
sleeve. He will scold and call you a blockhead. You 
must appear very sorry, run for his morning-gown, and 
beg him to change his coat. You will say, * Please, sir, 
give it to me to dry ; I will bring it back to you in five 
minutes.’ He will think only of the accident, and you 
will bring me the coat in an adjoining room." 

The plan was carried out. Albert, in his anger, for- 
got all about his pocket-book. The cunning waiter put 
it into the hands of the Governor. He glanced at 
the addresses of several letters written to Carbonari 
at Borne, Naples, and elsewhere. He noted it down, 
and replaced the book. Albert put on his coat without 
further thought, and took his departure next day. The 
Governor posted three mounted carbineers a few miles 
from the city, to stop the carriage and demand Albert’s 
passport. They examined it, and, telling him it was 
not satisfactory, required him to return to the city and 
report to the police. He had to yield, in spite of com- 
plaints and objections. The police searched him closely, 
and found on him other papers which compromised him 
seriously. They put him in prison. 

On the following day, the Governor, with the com- 
missaries, and solicitor of the crown, subjected the pri- 
soner to a long examination, but could not extract a 
word from him. On the morrow, the Governor paid 
him a second visit, and used his utmost efforts to pre- 
vail on him to denounce his fellow-conspirators. Not 
a word of reply was uttered by Albert. He stood mo- 
tionless, with downcast eye and haggard cheek, with 
compressed lips, clenched hands, and arms folded on his 


THE OATII. 


143 


breast. For three days and nights he remained obsti- 
nately silent, rejecting food and drink, and fixed in his 
purpose to die of hunger. The Governor perceived the 
prisoner’s exhaustion, and the likelihood of his burying 
his secret with him in the grave. He sent for an apo- 
thecary, and directed him to administer several cups 
of chocolate to Albert, whose resistance was overcome 
by two of the guards. Twice during the day this officer 
paid the unhappy young man a polite visit, but could 
not obtain a word from him. For several days he per- 
sisted in his obstinate silence. At length the au- 
thorities intercepted a letter from his mother, who com- 
plained that he had abandoned her in the midst of the 
greatest misery, in which, but for the provident kind- 
ness of his friend Marino, herself and his sister would 
have perished of hunger. She stated that a debt of 
fifty crowns had fallen due several months since, and 
that she would be compelled in the course of a fortnight 
to sell all her furniture, as she had not the courage to 
speak to Marino on the subject. 

The Governor went to the prison, and read this letter 
to Albert, who could not suppress his feelings, nor the 
expressions of liveliest sorrow. 

The Governor then drew a purse from his pocket, 
and said to the prisoner, “Albert, here are two hundred 
crowns for your mother. Write a word to her; I will 
transmit your letter and the money by post.” The young 
man was subdued. He secretly denounced his accom- 
plices, and, a short time afterward, regained his liberty. 

On his return to his country, he swore he had been 
faithful to his trust, and lived comfortably in the prac- 
tice of his professional duties. 

He continued to enjoy the friendship of Marino, who, 


LIONELLO. 


144 

in the space of a few months, was to marry a lady of 
great beauty and wealth, to whom he was passionately 
attached. But he was marked out for vengeance by the 
Carbonari, either because they doubted his fidelity ; or 
because he had actually repented of his engagements 
and broken his connection with the society. They se- 
lected the murderer and coverers to co-operate with 
him; they appointed the day for the operation , (to use 
the language of the Vendita.) One of the coverers gave 
Albert the mandate of the High light, who charged 
him, on such a night, to kill that villanous traitor Ma- 
rino. These are the amiable epithets the society em- 
ploys. Albert was thunderstruck, and asked if there 
was no possibility of escape. 

“No," said the coverer: “his doom is fixed. There 
will be two of us at the end of the street, two at the 
corner of the court, three in the small square. Ma- 
rino, usually unaccompanied, comes home about eleven 
o’clock at night. Give him a stab in the throat and 
another in the heart. Leave the poniard sticking in 
the wound, and, whilst he is endeavoring to extract it, 
you will have an opportunity to make your escape. If 
necessary, we will run up as if by chance. 

“Here is the false beard you will wear after the 
deed is done. Use a black velvet sack, and slip on 
plaid pantaloons. To-morrow night, you understand, 
— without fail.”* 


* These dark and merciless judgments are still executed, in defiance 
of the most vigorous Governments. The Courrierdc Vienne of the 24th 
March states that the Paris police had obtained possession of a writ- 
ing of the following import: — “Secret committee of the Chapel of St. 
Penis, 8th February, 1852, 11 p.m. Present, all the members of the 
tribunal. Citizen D., clerk, reads the writ of indictment against 


THE OATH. 


145 


Albert cursed the hour in which he had been born. 
Marino, toward dusk, went out to take his usual walk. 
He noticed his friend’s thoughtfulness and melancholy. 
“ What is the matter, my dear Albert ? Is there any 
thing that troubles you ? Are you in want of money ? 
Speak to me openly: you know my love for you.” 

“ You need not remind me of your friendship,” re- 
plied Albert. “ I have had too many proofs of it, and 
I thank you sincerely. But to-day I am suffering from 
a headache, which is, very likely, owing to the gloomy 
weather.” 

Then Marino began to speak of his betrothed, and of 
the happiness which this long-desired marriage would 
give him, — a happiness which he would share with his 
friend Albert. It was growing late, and Marino was 
eager to see the object of his affection. When they 
reached the door, Marino pressed his friend’s hand 
affectionately, and said to him, 11 Continue to love me, 
my dear Albert. To-morrow I hope to find your head 
free and your heart joyous.” 

Header, have you the courage to follow me further 
in my narrative ? As for me, I feel the pen tremble 
in my hand ; for I see the bloody shade of a friend, 
who recalls one by one the favors which he heaped 
on me, and asks, with a hollow but steady voice, “ Did 
you basely slay me because I saved your life at 
Lisbon?” And he fixes his eye on the murderous hand 


Jacquet. The prosecuting officer argues the case and claims sentence 
of death against the accused. The jury comes into the court-room at 
midnight. The foreman returns a verdict of guilty; the president of 
the tribunal pronounces sentence. l In the name of the democratic and 
social republic , the court condemns Jacquet to the penalty of death. Citi- 
zen V. S. F. will execute the sentence 
13 


146 


LIONELLO. 


which I strive to hide in my bosom, plucks it out, and 
holds it up reeking in the sunlight. Young men who 
have read these words, tell me if friendship can exist 
in these secret societies; tell me if the kiss of its 
members can be loyal, when, as they press it on your 
lips, they are ready to plunge a stiletto into your 
breast.* 

The unfortunate Marino fell upon the threshold. 
His groans drew the attention of a grocer in the 
neighborhood. This man raised him up, called for help, 
gently drew the dagger from his side, and, aided by 
persons who ran to the spot at the alarm which he gave, 
carried the victim to his home and placed him in the 
arms of his mother. 

The poor young man begged for a priest, and called 
continually on the name of Jesus. Feeling his strength 
declining, he said to his distressed and sobbing mother, — 

“ Mother, farewell : I am going to leave you. Try 
to console Albert and my good Victoria. Aid my 
friend in his wants, and treat him as a son. I forgive 


* So outrageous is the cruelty of these secret societies, that the 
members massacre in cold blood not only their friends, but their 
brothers and the very authors of their existence. The Courrier de la 
Drone of the 25th February, 1852, gives us a horrible proof of this 
assertion. It informs its readers that at Valence, the night of the 
7th December, Benjamin Richer, twenty-six years old, after his mo- 
ther had prepared and carried to his room a potion and retired to 
rest, rose from his bed, provided himself with a kitchen-knife, entered 
his mother’s chamber and stabbed her nine times. The unfortunate 
woman, who survived a short time, testified to the officers of justice 
that her own son had perpetrated this heinous crime. The murderer 
boldly confessed that he had killed her because, like a coward and traitor , 
she had hindered him from going to fight with the red brethren of the 
Mountain. What inconceivable atrocity ! And yet there are young 
men in Italy who join these societies ! 


THE OATH. 


147 


my murderer with all my heart, as I hope myself to 
be forgiven. Mother, mother, I am dying — Jesus” — 
And he expired. 

The coverers enabled Albert to make good his re- 
treat. They rejoined and accompanied him to the 
house of one of them, where he changed his clothes 
amid the applauses of these human tigers. Some went 
with him immediately to the coffee-house ; others 
hastened as eavesdroppers to their posts in the public 
square and theatre. The next morning, as soon as the 
murder transpired, they spread the report that an 
assassin lately come from Leghorn had been seen 
prowling about the house of Marino for several days 
past, and following him at a distance. 

It was, no doubt, the work of an enemy, — some jealous 
person, perhaps. The young man was guilty, it may 
be, of some imprudence: who knows? We are sur- 
rounded by so many villains. The police ought to be 
more on the watch. No honest man is any longer safe. 
It is a desperate state of things ! Poor young man ! he 
was so good! 

Thus the associates give the public mind a wrong 
scent, and impress it with the idea that their victim 
had been struck down by the hand of a stranger. 

I knew in Eome several of these wretches, who, in 
obedience to their Trafiles, had committed murders in 
the Komagna and the Marches. I learned from them, in 
minutest detail, the system of false reports and fabri- 
cated news which they practised to baffle the scrutiny 
of the police. What struck me with most astonish- 
ment was the brutal spirit of these men. 

They boasted to one another about their crimes, 
and jested about their bloody deeds, without dis- 


148 


LIONELLO. 


quietude or seeming apprehension of a similar fate 
for themselves. For they too, at any moment, may be 
denounced as traitors, and, from the hands of their best 
friends, receive the blow which they inflicted on their 
victim. 


CHAPTEE XII. 

THE LAST GEADES. 

I was now Giulio the Carbonaro. I remained some 
time at Cesena, to learn the symbols, devices, secret 
craft, of the society. I had many personal advantages 
which opened to me a fair prospect of success. The 
grand masters of the Vendita, who are the subtlest 
explorers of the recesses of the human heart, were not 
blind to my availability as an auxiliary, in the gifts 
of birth, and fortune, and education, in my natural 
vivacity, prepossessing manners, adventurous cha- 
racter, — with the additional recommendation of a tall 
and graceful figure and agreeable features. They 
decided to overleap the intermediate probation of the 
Initiated and promote me to the highest grades. 
Their object was to call my abilities at once into 
service, and qualify me to co-operate in the conspiracies 
which were forming on every side ; which were, 
eighteen months later, to terrify, by their explosion, 
kings and dukes, and establish a popular Government 
from the Alps to the Abruzzi. 

This rapid elevation to the pinnacle of the Carbona- 
rist hierarchy will, no doubt, excite a general curiosity 


THE LAST GRADES. 


149 


and lively desire to know the new mysteries which I 
learned in the dark haunts of conspiracy; the measures 
which secret societies employ to execute their designs ; 
the weapons with which they achieve success; the 
counsels on which they rely; in fine, the positive end 
which they seek in their most intimate and secret 
thoughts. 

This desire of penetrating the mysteries of Carbona- 
rism might, it seems to me, have been excited, a few 
years since, in the liveliest degree, not only in the in- 
ferior classes of society, hut in men of eminent abilities, 
who, aware of the general tendencies of secret asso- 
ciations, were strangers to the final issues to which they 
tend. But, were I to answer all these questions, were I 
to attempt to satisfy this curiosity and desire of the 
world, my labors would not carry me beyond the year 
1847. But during a space of ten years, France, Ger- 
many, and Switzerland have been inundated by a de- 
luge of public confessions, complete revelations of all 
secret societies, from Carbonarism to socialism and 
universal communism. 

All these societies, which owe their birth to the Illu- 
minism of Weishaupt, have the very aims of this inso- 
lent foe of God, of mankind and their rulers. The final 
end of Carbonarism is that of Young Italy , Swiss 
Radicalism, the Sacred Alliance of Germany, and the 
Mountain in France. 

Their iniquity has been disclosed, in its gigantic 
proportions. It was unmasked to the public eye in 
1847, and rendered patent in the application of its de- 
testable principles throughout all Europe in 1848. 
What, then, is the true and final oath of Carbonarism ? 

It is: “ First — To destroy on earth, Jesus Christ and 

13 * 


150 


LIONELLO. 


his Church, — the very name of God, — by deifying man 
under the complex idea of the people. 

“ Second. To destroy all authority, under every 
name, be it of emperor, king, senate, statute, or law. 

“ Third. To destroy all bonds of nationality, country, 
family, property. 

“ Fourth. In fine, to dispose man to idolize his being, 
to constitute himself master of all creation, a solitary 
animal, truculent and avid of blood, like serpents, 
tigers, and lions of the forest.* 

“ This is the constituent essence of human felicity. 

“The man of society is a monster, perverted by an 
original fault. He must be brought back to a state 
of nature, to attain the happiness to which he aspires. 
But, as the idea of God fills him with terror, he must 
annihilate God, and, as a deity, occupy his place. If he 
wishes to perfect his Godlike nature, he must identify 
himself with the soul of the world, which the vulgar 
call the demon or the angel of the abyss, but which 
the Egyptian sages symbolized in their Grand Typhon. 
Consequently, this demonolatry, this worship of the 
demon, is the apogee of human perfectibility, exalted in 

* We have an illustration of these doctrines in the horrors com- 
mitted in France by the socialists and communists, December, 1852, 
in twenty-five departments, — scenes of arson, robberies, homicides, 
sacrileges, and unheard-of crimes. After the Coup d'Etat of the 2d 
December, the oath of the Reds of the Mountain was discovered. It 
is like that of the Carbonari , Young Italy , German Alliance , &c. These 
are the words they pronounce over the dagger’s point: — “I swear, by 
this steel, the symbol of honor, to arm, combat and confound all 
despotism, religious, political, social, — to war against it everywhere, 
unceasingly, now and ever.” ( Univers , 2d February, 1852.) Despot- 
ism, in the mouths of men who acknowledge no law, divine or human, 
is synonymous with authority; — a fact which proves beyond ques- 
tion that they swear to destroy all that is lawful and sacred on earth. 


THE LAST GRADES. 


151 


a hypostatic union with the negative and contradictory 
idea of the God of heaven, the jealous and eternal 
enemy of human progress.” 

Carbonarism, Young Italy, and all other secret socie- 
ties whose membership and grades I have received, 
affect this last and sublimest mystery. Their rites are 
different, their ordeals more or less criminal; but their 
end is the same, — denial of God, and union of human 
with diabolic nature. 

Eeader, you grow pale, tremble, shudder with horror. 
Perhaps, too, you prostrate yourself before God in ado- 
ration, and thank your Creator and Eedeemer, who 
has preserved you from this abyss of prevarications. 

Brother, you have asked me to reveal the mystery 
of evil, and I have fulfilled ybur wishes only in words. 
For you could not endure the spectacle of those dark 
assemblies, nor assist at those hideous rites, nor listen 
to those absurd and execrable blasphemies. I say 
absurd designedly ; for can any thing be more absurd 
than the act of a human being made after the image 
and likeness of God, who disowns, abjures, abdicates 
his nobility, to form an alliance with the devil? 

It is true, he grovels in his vices ; but it is the height 
of madness, which excites pity rather than contempt, to 
defile the beauty of his soul and assume the foul deform- 
ity of Satan. Christians ! you are wont to say that the 
conversion of a perfect adept is measurably impossible. 
Can we deny it ? He conceives a formal hatred against 
God; he denies his Maker, and identifies himself 
with the angel of perdition. We have, nevertheless, 
accesses of terror. At times, a flash of light rives the 
mass of darkness which wraps us at the bottom of the 
abyss. But that light appalls : it gives no consolation ; 


152 


LIONELLO. 


it awakes no hope, and plunges the soul in despair. 
Oh, God! Do I not know it? do I not see it? I feel 
the horrors which envelop me; but I have neither 
strength nor will to escape my destiny. 

A malediction is crushing me to the earth. It is 
the blood of Christ, which was shed to save me. I 
have flung it from my soul; and now it persecutes and 
anathematizes me! 

But as yet I have addressed only pure and timid 
souls, who read these pages with affright. A large class, 
reliant on their wisdom and experience, will smile at 
these tragic records, and regard them as the fruits of 
remorse, the effects of devouring melancholy, perhaps 
the exaggeration of a diseased imagination. Let them 
say and think what they please : I recite what I know. 
They need only peruse the continued revelations which 
the socialists and communists make in their writings. 
Fourier, Considerant, Proudhon, Desmoulins, Marr, 
Weithtling, Babeuf, and their colleagues, to pass over 
the oaths which they took in their secret societies, 
publish the following principles : — 

“ It is time to reform the world. Away with God, 
kings, governments, laws, nobles, citizens ! Only the 
man of the people must live, reign, and rule as God. 
Death to the proprietors of fields, houses, and money ! 
Glory to the assassin ! Crime is the only virtue ; the 
only crime, the worship of God and love of men. The 
blood of two millions and a half of slaughtered Jesuits 
is necessary to regenerate mankind. Banish God from 
earth, and man will be blessed.”* 

To perfect their system, secret societies, it seems to 

* We read lately, with horror, in the “ RSpublique Universelle “Re- 
ligion is a social malady, which cannot be cured too soon.” 


THE LAST GRADES. 


153 


me, need but one thing; and that is, not to adore the 
devil, but persuade him to adore his worshippers. But 
Satan, with all his pride, believes in God and trembles, 
Credit et contremiscit ; whilst the sons of Weishaupt 
believe and despise God. Joseph Ferrari exclaims at 
Lugano, “ Who is God, and what claim has he on us?” 
Proudhon writes at Paris, in open day, “ God is essential 
evil.”* This is the ne plus ultra of blasphemy; this is 
the language of horrible wickedness, which the world 
has not heard since the sovereign goodness of God called 
it into being. Had not the blood of Jesus Christ stifled 
this rampant blasphemy, the universe would have been 
precipitated into original nothingness. God, as the 
supreme good, is infinite mercy. For the sake of his 
elect, he tolerates these blasphemies, which are exhaled 
from the spiracles of hell, the mouths of the chiefs of 
secret societies. 

A third class of readers may perchance glance at these 
pages, — associates of Carbonarism and Young Italy, 
who have never comprehended or supposed the possi- 
bility of these horrible abominations. They will con- 
ceive it to be their honest duty to contradict my allega- 
tions. But they must remember that there are many 
grades in these associations; that comparatively few 
members, after a long probation and important services, 
attain the highest office. Some become High lights, 


* This socialist sees and avows the truth. He publishes boldly. 
He has not the courage to escape from the abyss whose horrors he 
acknowledges. In some manuscript notes of a small journal of the 
Count de Maistre, we find the key of this mystery. Perhaps we will 
give it to the public one of these days. It is the Video mcliora pro- 
boque, deteriora sequor; and Lionello is a proof of it, from the beginning 
to the end of his memoirs. 


154 


LIONELLO. 


Enrollers, Censors, Examiners, and even Masters ; others 
are the executive members, managers, manoeuvrers. 
They write, travel, put their hand to the work and set 
the machine in motion, — the machine of conspiracies, 
seditions, local disturbances. Some, again, serve as the 
storming party, the forlorn hope which rushes headlong 
into inevitable perils. Others ar q justiciaries ; others 
are the bloody arm or assassins of the society. 

These last are divided into several classes, according 
to the importance of the sentence which they have to 
execute. But a large number seldom go beyond the 
initiatory step. They are called standfasts , — great 
talkers, men of little talent or courage. But, on the 
other hand, they aid the society with their money, or 
give it position by their rank. Their habits cut them 
off from visiting society, and qualify them for the revo- 
lutionary party. 

The grand masters, who are the very heart and soul 
of these combinations, are few ; and they communicate 
only to a small number of loyal adepts in the Trafile 
their supreme mysteries and execrable oaths. There 
are thousands of Carbonari who do not know these per- 
sonages, who respect them under the name of the 
invisibles, and submit to them with blind obedience.* 


* Louis Napoleon, President of the French Republic, prohibited 
secret societies under the severest penalties, and he had the most 
dangerous members of these societies seized and deported to Cayenne. 
Nevertheless, at that very time, Masonic lodges were reorganized in 
Paris. Prince Lucien Murat was elected grand master. The opening 
ceremony was performed with exceeding pomp; the <Slite of Parisian 
society assisted at it. The assembly listened with eager curiosity to 
the initiatory discourse, and Masonry was pronounced an academy of 
philanthropic sciences, — a society designed to ameliorate the world, 
without mingling in politics. 


THE LAST GRADES. 


155 


I shall never forget an incident in my visit to Lon- 
don, as a secret deputy of the Vendita. I noted in 
Paris the mystery in which the highest functionaries 
of Carbonarism envelop themselves, their profound dis- 
simulation under a specious exterior, their refined craft 
under an air of simplicity and complaisance. Ten 
Fouchets, with their entire police cohorts, could 
never get within a thousand leagues of them. At 
London, one of the great Suns made so strange an im- 
pression on me the first time I saw him, that I could 
not help laughing in his face. 

I was commissioned to deliver him a very important 
note, which was enclosed in a small tube. The tube 
was so cleverly covered, that the most experienced eye 
might fancy it only an ordinary stick of sealing-wax. 
The note was written in cipher. The address of this 
great personage had been conveyed to me under the 
vamp of a shoe. I copied it on a slip of yellow paper, 
and directed a cabman to drive me to one of the oldest 
quarters in London. I got out of the carriage at a 
corner, and threaded my way through crooked and 
muddy streets. I passed through a wide and obscure 


But perhaps the assembly did not reflect that Masonry is secretly 
united to Illuminism, inspired by its code and governed by its laws, de- 
structive of all authority, divine and human. The famous Knigge, the 
right arm of Weishaupt, began to affiliate to Illuminism, in the gr^at 
congress of 1783, at Wilhemsbad, all the Masonic lodges of Germany, 
Switzerland, England, Italy, and finally all those of France. 

Exteriorly, Masonry continued to hold its public assemblies, — to 
publish its discourses in the newspapers of Paris ; but in secret it was 
planning actively the French Revolution. Masonry, says Knigge, 
studies to reign before the public eye with pomp and splendor : we study 
to act in silence and secrecy. The first is the cat’s velvety paw ; the 
second is her claws. 


156 


LIONELLO. 


avenue into a small yard, surrounded by very tall 
bouses, wliicb nearly shut out the heavens. Behind a 
door rose a stairway, and at the bottom was seated a 
cobbler, who acted as porter. I addressed him in 
English, and asked him politely on what story Mr. 
Edwards lived. 

The fellow first drew out to full length his wax-ends, 
and hammered the shoe on which he was working, to 
secure the stitch, and then, without honoring me with 
a look, answered, laconically, — 

“ Third story, No. 2. Bing the bell.” 

I went up eight dark and narrow stairs, until I 
reached a green door, and read on a brass plate the 
name, “Mr. Edwards.” I rang the bell, and heard it 
tinkling at a considerable distance. Then came a foot- 
step, a little dry cough, a creaking of the key in the 
lock, and the sound of a voice. 

“ Who’s there ? What do you want ?” 

“ To death ,” I replied. 

The door opened; and, alas! there stood an old, 
sallow, toothless dame. 

“ Good-day, sir. Do you wish to see the master ?” 

“Yes: I wish to see Mr. Edwards.” 

“ Please to walk in and follow me.” 

She turned the key in the lock, bolted the door, and 
then went before me to show the way, with a shambling 
gait and a shaking head. The entry led to a handsome 
parlor. In the middle of the room stood a walnut 
table; eight or ten chairs were ranged along the 
walls, and an old sideboard occupied the space be- 
tween two windows. Portraits of Pitt, Nelson, and 
Spenser hung around. The two adjoining rooms were 
filled from the ceiling to the floor with the crowded 


THE LAST GRADES. 


157 


shelves of a library. The dusty books were bound in 
Cordova leather, and their titles marked with a pen, 
most likely, if I could judge from the old-fashioned 
lettering, by some notary of the times of Cromwell. 

“•Well,” said I to myself, “this Archimandrite of the 
Carbonari may be considered the very Pacomius and 
Hilarion of secret societies.” Perpetua left me, to 
announce my visit ; and, during her absence, I surveyed 
with astonishment the different objects ; the window- 
curtains tanned by the smoke, the cages of. a canary 
and a Polynesian parrot, which, as if to honor my arrival, 
were singing and chattering in rivalry. A few minutes 
after, the old woman returned, and, with a sugary smile 
on her lips, requested me to walk into the next cham- 
ber. It was no better furnished than the others. At 
one extremity I saw a bench covered with stout regis- 
ters, rolls of paper, waste sheets, and scraps. A small- 
sized man was buried in an arm-chair covered with 
reddish Bulgarian leather. He was a little, rickety 
hunchback, with very long arms and hands, like oar- 
blades. His head was big and bald, with a few white 
hairs about the temples. He made me a low bow. I 
accosted him, stated the object of the mission intrusted 
to me by the Vendita of Italy, and presented him a 
small roll of wax, which contained the letter. He 
looked at me with a faint smile on his thin, pale lips, 
lit a candle, and, with admirable tact, broke the wax 
and drew out the missive. 

He spoke with facility all the languages of Europe, 
especially German, Italian, Spanish, French, and the 
Sclavonian dialects. He read the cipher without the 
least difficulty, burned the letter in my presence, and, 
turning toward me as I sat near him, said, in good 
14 


158 


L 1 0 N E L L 0. 


Italian, “ Giulio, you are, though young, a brave and 
doughty brother: I am delighted that the Vendita 
selected you for this noble office. Our Italian brethren 
ask me how they should act in present circumstances. 
Tell them not to be too hasty. Your Southern blood 
and warm imagination impel you faster than discretion 
warrants. You must wait for the explosion of the 
bomb in France, and then you must second the move- 
ment. Charles X. and his brilliant aristocracy, which 
escaped the shipwreck of ’89, will, in a few months, 
bound into the air like an elastic ball.” 

“How is that possible?” I asked. “At this very mo- 
ment Marshal Bourmont is besieging and destroying 
Algiers. This victory will inure to the credit of 
Charles X. and establish him more firmly on the 
throne.” 

“Give yourself no trouble on that score,” replied my 
wily Pacomius. “ Charles X. is more closely besieged by 
our brethren than Algiers by the army of Bourmont. 
He will soon be upset. Louis Philippe of Orleans will 
supplant him and reign in his stead.” 

“ But Louis Philippe is an unprincipled knave. If he 
seizes the crown of France, he will never relax his 
hold.” 

“Bah!” exclaimed the hunchback: “we succeeded 
in discrowning Napoleon, who had written on his im- 
perial diadem, ‘ Touch not, at your peril.’ And shall 
we be afraid of this pitiful Philippe? If he is a fool, 
we will send him into the air more speedily than 
Charles X. But bid our brethren in Italy be on 
the alert. France will begin the revolution ; Poland 
will follow, and then Belgium. Be quiet, and let them 
act. Early in 1831 you may apply the match to the 


THE LAST GRADES. 


159 


mine. Let there be a perfect understanding between 
you. Have an eye on Naples and Turin : otherwise you 
will lose Central Italy and be overwhelmed by a deluge 
of Germans.” 

“We will not fail to do so,” I answered. “ We have 
stationed experienced pilots at the helm, and manned 
the batteries with gallant fellows.” 

“ That's very good ; capital ! But, remember, you 
have an unsteady compass to manage. The magnetic 
needle varies rapidly with every change in the electric 
currents. Unless you stand firmly at the pole, the 
helm will be shivered on the rocks.” 

The long-armed hunchback spoke like a prophet. 
The grand masters of secret societies are invisible; as 
perfectly so, the ancients would say, as the monster 
which lies concealed at the bottom of springs to poison 
their waters, whilst men are unable to trace the venom 
to its source. The police are completely at fault. How, 
indeed, can they unearth from their holes those foxes 
who muffle themselves with false appearances, and act 
at will the honest citizen, the hypocrite, the practical 
man? Among others I knew a man in Italy who 
passed for an excellent Catholic. When he spent the 
summer in the country, he frequented the society of 
the parish priest, took the liveliest interest in the 
catechetical instruction of the children, and never 
failed hearing high mass. Show me any thing equal 
to that. 

My hunchback was gifted with great intelligence 
and marvellous penetration. He could group circum- 
stances the most remote and dissimilar, so as to 
render them subservient to his purpose. He was, 
indeed, an incarnate fiend, with a hellish heart; ex- 


160 


LIONEL! 0. 


hibiting the calmest exterior and most amiable de- 
portment, gentleness on his lips, modesty in bis eyes, 
goodness in bis face. He bad visited all the Vendite 
of Italy, France, and Germany ; administered the most 
horrible oaths to the different chiefs ; and, finally, 
withdrew to London, to hide in his lair all the plans, 
projects, and order of future operations of the society. 
He deputed me to proceed from London to Warsaw; 
and, in his instructions, he marked out my duties with 
such point and precision that I ran no risk of making 
a mistake. Men of this class are able to revolutionize 
the world, and cast it headlong into the abyss. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

THE PEACTICES OF CAEBONAEISM. 

The reader, no doubt, is curious to know the rites 
and observances of Carbonarism. The world has laughed 
enough at the child’s play of Masonry. The age has 
passed, of squares, triangles, levels, rollers, lodges, secret 
libraries, mysterious chambers. We do things more 
openly now. 

Public lecture-rooms replace secret libraries. Drink- 
ing-establishments, smoking-apartments, coffee-houses, 
restaurants, answer in place of mysterious chambers. 
Villas, paper and cotton factories, are open anywhere 
to our state juntos. We have general maxims to govern 
us. Do you know where we study the malign spirit 
of W eishaupt in full ? Do not laugh at my answer. 
In the Jacobinism of Barruel. 


THE PRACTICES OF CARBONARISM. 161 

Of course we tell the world he is a liar, an impostor ; 
a dreamer; but among ourselves, we believe no one 
has so perfectly developed the doctrines and mysteries 
of Weishaupt. We throw aside his homilies, exclama- 
tions, and long perorations, in which he evinces his 
horror at the sight of the world’s future calamities; 
we are rejoiced to find a synopsis so complete and con- 
cise of the works of our master. Now we have the 
ascetico-mystic commentaries of Mazzini; but it was 
not so in my time. 

The Carbonari, and the associates of Young Italy, 
are no longer possessors of these eternal records, 
notes, dissertations of Zwach and Massenhrusen, the 
Cato and Ajax of our legislator Weishaupt. Never- 
theless, the Trafiliere have some small memoranda 
about the candidates. They enter in a book the bap- 
tismal and family names of members, with their num- 
ber in the order; and in another book their assumed 
names, with the number answering to the muster- 
roll. These registers are kept concealed in different 
places, that the police may be unable to compare the 
real and fictitious names. From time to time the 
officers of justice have seized these books separately, 
without any damaging result, because singly they can 
give no available information. 

We labor unremittingly to accomplish two objects: 
first, to excite local commotions in our own provinces, 
and general revolutions in all the States of Italy; se- 
condly, to embarrass Governments with political per- 
plexities, so as to call off their attention from our machi- 
nations. We not unfrequently succeed, because, by 
crafty and hypocritical management, we continue to 
obtain state appointments and offices of the most im- 

14 * 


162 


LIONELLO. 


portant and delicate nature. We are familiar with the 
system of using every mask, assuming every character 
and position, feigning demonstrations of ardent and im- 
passioned zeal. There are foxes among us who know 
how to rise with parallel preferment in the grades of 
the society and the dignities of the state, and in the 
functions and honors of the senate, army, courts, ad- 
ministration, and even of the police. 

An enterprise which we have most at heart is the 
downfall of religion and the Church. We combat them 
incessantly, and devise new modes to excite in the 
breasts of princes suspicion of the bishops, clergy, and 
Pope. We throw obstructions in the way of missions, 
under the plea that, at a season when the public mind 
requires repose, these religious exercises agitate the 
people. Heaven avert such a visitation ! A spark may 
kindle an immense conflagration. No, no; let the pas- 
tors explain the gospel : that is enough. These missions 
might suit the Middle Ages : they are periodic torrents 
which rush over the land and leave it drier than before. 
We communicate these ideas to ministers, or bigoted 
courtiers, or virtuous persons. We fill their ears with 
reports of the scrupulosity of devotees, variances be- 
tween man and wife, secret scandals ; we have a fund of 
asceticism to put to flight confessors of nuns. 

But our most strenuous efforts are directed against 
the Jesuits, those eternal enemies of ours, whom we 
have sworn never to admit under any name into our 
societies.* The Italian States which refuse to tolerate 

* In the organic articles of the secret society formed at Naples, in 
1849, under the name of Italian Unity, we read these words in the 
13th section : — “Ex-Jesuits are to be excluded, as well as robbers, for- 
gers, felons.” In what fine society they put the sons of St. Ignatius! 


THE PRACTICES OP CARBONARISM. 

them are loudly declared happy, prosperous, full of civili- 
zation and life. It was rumored in 1833 that a sove- 
reign had determined to recall them to his dominions. 
One of our heroes did us admirable service on that 
occasion. During the night, he, with charcoal, wrote 
in large characters on the walls in the principal streets : 

“Ko Jesuits; or ” The stratagem was eminently 

successful. The Government read in these words a 
threatened conspiracy, some infernal mischief, and I 
know not what besides. That settled the question about 
the reverend fathers. 

As to the countries which allowed the Jesuits to enter 
and establish schools and colleges, we spoke and wrote 
astounding charges of ignorance, superstition, intrigues, . 
rascality, hatreds, aversions, such as we would not have 
uttered against the Albanians or Croats. So great was 
our dread of the sons of St. Ignatius, as the enemies 
of liberty, that as soon as they had opened a college in 
any city, we appointed a secret committee, and directed 
it to keep a vigilant eye on the fathers, and return to 
the central committee a minute report of every act and 
movement. It was the duty of this committee to em- 
ploy all means to dissuade parents from sending their 
children to Jesuit institutions; and, if this were unsuc- 
cessful, to waylay the students as they were going to 
the university or returning home, and corrupt their 
morals. I recollect an answer of Charles Albert, King 
of Sardinia, to one of my friends, who complained of 
the little benefit which the Piedmontese had derived 
from the teaching of the Jesuits. “These religious,” 
said the monarch, “exert themselves to the utmost; but 
I am well assured that the secret societies are playing 


LIONELLO. 


164 

the part of the serpent of the Apocalypse against the 
youth of Savoy, Sardinia, and Piedmont.”* 

It was a just observation. We spread a thousand 
snares to entrap the young, and we took very good care 
of them when they were once in our power. Yet we 
have enrolled but few of them among the Carbonari 
and Young Italy. Fearful that the Jesuitical leaven 
may ferment anew, we are careful to guard against 
treachery, by corrupting them thoroughly. We have 
not, however, been successful. The truths of Chris- 
tianity are so deeply rooted in their souls, that several, 
overcome by remorse, have abandoned us, and been se- 
cretly reconciled to the Church. Oh, Cod ! against one 
of these youths I committed a horrible crime, which 
shall be mentioned in the sequel, — a crime which is the 
unbearable torment of an odious existence. Oh, my 
friend ! I swear to you that I did not know my victim, 
when I sacrificed you to my fury ! 


* Charles Albert said one day to the rector of the College of Nobles, 
“Would you believe it? Scarcely had I opened the College of Aosta, 
than the Carbonari, unappalled by the glaciers of the Col du Bon- 
homme, and of Prarayer, which are barriers of the good city, esta- 
blished there a committee to embarrass the labors of your zeal, espe- 
cially among the young. It is true that Aosta is a city celebrated 
for its ancient monuments ; but was not the College of Melan, in Fos- 
singy, formerly a Chartreuse monastery in a secluded valley, favored 
immediately with a Carbonarist committee, posted at Bonneville, with 
sentinels at the hamlet of Yaringe? The central committee is close 
by, at Geneva. What desperate malice!” But the good King Charles 
Albert did not perceive meanwhile the secret committees established 
in his own palace and laboring assiduously to accomplish his ruin. 


SEPULCHRE OF GALLA PLACIDIA. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

THE SEPULCHRE OF GALLA PLACIDIA. 

The sepulchre of Galla Placidia, daughter of Theo- 
dosius the Great, and mother of Valentinian III., is one 
of the most beautiful monuments of Ravenna. This 
city is celebrated for the antiquity and magnificence 
of its basilicas, which, in brilliant testimony of Italian 
piety, date from the first ages of the liberty of the 
Church. Thus, the basilica of St. Agatha was erected 
in 417; of St. John the Evangelist, in 424; of St. John 
the Baptist, the master-work of Baduarius Patricius, 
in 438; of St. Apollinaris, outside the walls of the city, 
reared by Julianus Argentarius, in 534. A simple 
glance at the last magnificent temple fills you with as- 
tonishment. What can equal its wonderful columns, 
precious court, alabaster urns, exquisitely-sculptured 
ambons, elegant marble arcades, its absis incrusted with 
mosaics on a golden ground, its lofty and majestic altar 
surmounted by a baldachin, with marble canopy, and 
columns of priceless value? 

Nevertheless, this splendid temple is surpassed by 
the patriarchal church of the Ursini, and, above all, by 
the basilica of St. Vitalis. The latter is an octagonal 
structure, built by Argentarius, and consecrated by 
St. Maximin, Archbishop, in 547. The spectator ad- 
mires the porphyry and cippolin pillars ; the niches and 
tribunes faced with Grecian marbles, enclosing tablets 
of red Egyptian ; the walls, cornices, pedestals, checkered 
with yellow, greenish, and violet agates, with red, white, 


166 


LIONELLO. 


and quince-colored alabaster, with mottled brocatel, and 
coral breccia, and a hundred other rare and costly mar- 
bles. But these are all eclipsed by a superb column 
which seems to have been quarried from a mountain of 
emeralds, jaspers, agates, garnets, sardonyx, and ame- 
thysts, amassed in the most brilliant and charming con- 
fusion. 

I do not speak of other famous monuments, — of the 
great Abbey of the Camaldolese, a most beautiful speci- 
men of architecture, in the sixteenth century; of the 
mausoleum of Theodoric, which exhibits barbarian 
genius exalted by Cassiodorus to the height of Bo- 
man greatness. Admitting the grandeur of the Egyp- 
tian mausoleums, I do not think the world presents so 
vast and massive a rotunda, covered with so ponderous 
a marble cupola, as that of the Ostrogoth king. From 
what mountain was this giant mass torn? What vessels 
transported it across the Adriatic to the banks of Ba- 
venna? What architect was able to raise in mid-air 
this enormous dome, and with it gracefully cope those 
arches mortised in the key-circle of the mighty vault? 
When will modern art realize in its progress so sub- 
lime a structure? 

The tomb of Dante stands in a chapel adjoining the 
church of St. Francis. Like the flame of Vesta, it is 
destined to rekindle the sacred fire of patriotism in the 
hearts of Italians. But Italians refuse to approach the 
altar, because primitive faith, liberty, justice, probity, 
temperance, nourish that flame in its brightest glow. 
They prefer to inflame their souls with the fires that 
burn in the breast of Mazzini. It is no longer that 
gentle flame which excites noble ideas and generous 
sentiments ; but the torch of the furies, flung into the 


SEPULCHRE OF GALLA PLACIDIA. 107 

fair lands of Italy, to kindle a ravaging fire, the fire of 
Satan; which blackens, obscures, consumes laws and 
rights of the people ; threatens to involve in a common 
ruin heaven and earth, man and God; seeks to convert 
the world into a hell. 

I have, in view of the sepulchre of Galla Placidia, 
been led to speak of other monuments of Ravenna, in 
order to escape for a while from the remorse which 
corrodes me ; for in that sepulchre I committed a hor- 
rible sacrilege. This grand mausoleum stands alone in 
the gardens attached to the basilic of St. Vitalis. It 
inspires a sentiment of respect and veneration, attri- 
butable less to its material beauty than to its antiquity. 
An altar built of the rarest marble, and surmounted by 
a cross, first meets the eye ; and in the rear, on a lowly 
base, rests the splendid urn of Oriental alabaster which 
contains the ashes of the Empress, awaiting the day of 
resurrection. 

The edifice is cruciform. On the right is the tomb 
of Honorius ; on the left, that of the Emperor Constans, 
husband of Galla Placidia, and father of Valentinian 
III. The most elegant mosaics adorn that hallowed 
spot. The feeble light which glimmers through the 
edifice, and the perpetual silence which reigns in every 
part, fill the soul with a religious terror. 

But what is sacred in the eyes of the impious Carbo- 
nari ? They desecrate religion as they trample under 
foot every principle of faith, justice, and law. 

It was an hour after midnight. A prey to saddest 
thoughts, I passed in silence, with a companion, near the 
palace Rasponi, and, wending through several streets, at 
length arrived at the church of St. Vitalis. The slant- 
ing beams of the moon cast a broad shadow from the 


168 


LIONELLO. 


building. I advanced into the range of cloisters and 
reached an ancient atrium surrounded by an obscure 
forest of columns. My companion tapped at a door. 
It was opened by a man muffled in a cloak, and we 
entered the temple of the mausoleum. 

In the middle of the altar-platform stood a night- 
lamp, which shed through the crimson glass, on the 
marble walls, a hue of blood. In divers attitudes, and 
in profound silence, a number of individuals occupied 
benches along these walls and the arches of the Em- 
perors Honorius and Oonstans. They raised their heads 
as I entered, and looked fixedly at me. A man who stood 
at the gospel side approached, and pointed to an empty 
stall. He then counted the company, and said, — 

“ Twenty-two. The number is complete." 

The measures of the Italian Carbonari were so wide- 
spread, so judiciously conceived and arranged, that they 
needed but a masterly stroke to achieve success. 
Envoys from the different committees of the Italian 
states had repaired, in succession, to Ravenna, disguised 
as travellers, merchants, painters, and were now about 
to assemble in general council. Two were from Venice, 
two from Lombardy, two from Piedmont, two from 
Tuscany, two from Sicily, four from the central com- 
mittee, a Frenchman, a Spaniard, and an Englishman. 
These foreigners spoke our language perfectly. 

The first deputy from Naples was a diminutive Cala^ 
brian, of lean and muscular figure, with an olive com- 
plexion, animated physiognomy, and eyes that sparkled 
with a ferocious spirit. He was elected orator of the 
congress ; and, at a sign from the herald, he arose, ad- 
vanced to the altar, and ascended the steps. The light 
gleamed on his entire person, and shaped him with, an 


SEPULCHRE OF GAL LA PLACIDIA. p09 

ominous and infernal aspect. He looked around him, 
pressed his hat upon his head, twice passed his hand 
over his face, slightly bowed, and began : — 

u Brothers, at this solemn hour of night, in the un- 
broken silence which surrounds us, in this lonely and 
firm-set temple which defies the assault of ages, near 
the execrated remains of mediaeval tyrants and their 
detested ashes which witness our compact, I raise my 
voice with the inspired accents of liberty. Italy, 
throughout her bounds, is slumbering; but we are 
sentinels at her side. The night is coming, it is at 
hand, when our slothful country shall sleep her last 
sleep in chains. She shall awake and burst her bonds, 
once more ascend her throne, and proudly wear the 
imperial crown of nations. 

“ Monarchs, too, are sleeping on their gilded couches, 
dreaming of new chains and shackles to enthrall the 
nations. Let them sleep on; let them dream their 
dream. Our eyes are open ; we are at our posts. We 
behold their sleep with joy, and we fear not that their 
ministers will arouse them ; for they also are stupefied 
like their masters, and when they awake they shall 
see these despots prostrate on the earth in penury and 
nakedness, crawling to some hut to shelter their 
miseries, — craving a crust of bread to appease their 
hunger. The ministers of Charles X. were thus stirred 
from their lethargy, last July, in France; and the sove- 
reign and the princes of Italy, like them, will one day 
open their eyes. 

“ Brothers, every thing has been pondered, settled, 
prepared for the crisis. Louis Philippe is goading 
Flanders and Brabant into revolt against the King of 
Holland. He has flung a firebrand into Warsaw, and 

15 


170 


LIONELLO. 


is now preparing mines in Switzerland, whose blasts 
will shake the empire of Vienna to its base, and rend 
from its sovereign, Hungary, Bohemia, Lombardy, and 
Venetia. But, meanwhile, what are we to do with our 
tyrants ? If the blow be not driven home, they will 
escape our grasp and thunder upon us with the cannon 
of Austria. We must not compare our position with 
that of France. Philippe has offered the sweets of 
liberty to the French. Charles X. may find an asylum 
in a foreign land, but he will never recover his lost 
throne. 

“Italy is divided into mere principalities. The 
people are not animated with a love of liberty, and, to 
speak my candid sentiments, they never will be. Men 
will combine, indeed, to disturb the state ; but they are 
a class, not the nation. Shall I propose to you a plan to 
seduce the popular heart ? Tear out of it the image of 
Christ; rob it of priests and monks; clamor, denounce, 
write, seize on the asylums of childhood; snatch educa- 
tion from the hands of the clergy; control the schools, 
and patronize the universities. We have not, as yet, 
gained over the merchants. We must allure, corrupt 
them with the promise of unmeasured gold. The 
Italian peasants regard us with a jaundiced eye, because 
the priests have poisoned their minds against us ; and 
yet among our tillers of the soil are found the very 
sinews of the nation. In the larger villages we have 
allies in the physician, apothecary, law-students. We 
must employ them actively. The country-people are 
easily bought ; but too often they abandon us when our 
purse is empty. They fly at the hook if it be baited ; 
if not, they are shy of it. We must, therefore, win 
their affections and gain them over by persuasion. 


SEPULCHRE OF GALLA PLACIDIA. ^71 

“ Brothers, we have spread our snares for the open- 
ing of March, 1831. Be on the look-out ! Be animated 
with courage and confidence ! Bide your time, and 
persevere, in the midst jq f toils, weariness, trials, hard- 
ships, wrongs, outrages, menaces ! A premature burst 
of impatience, an over-eager outbreak, would ruin our 
enterprise. Our young and noble brother Giulio, gifted 
with rare intelligence, will set out on his journey and 
make a report to the supreme committee. The special 
object of his mission is to obtain from France a promise 
of non-intervention. If Louis Philippe be faithful to 
his word, the sovereigns will not recover from their 
overthrow, and liberty will reign from the summits of 
the Alps to Cape Lilybmum.” 

He descended from the altar, and resumed his seat 
in the stall. The herald took from a bundle some 
small rollers, inserted one of them in a tripod, and on 
this base formed, with the others, a candlestick about 
four feet high. He drew from his bosom a sharp- 
pointed dagger, placed it as a candle in the socket, 
spread a piece of scarlet stuff on the ground, and set 
the candlestick upon it. Then the president said to 
the assembly, — 

“ Brothers, let us renew our oaths.” 

All the delegates arose, stretched their hands toward 
the dagger for a moment, let them fall again to their 
sides, and resumed their seats. Each, in succession, 
began now to give a statement of the affairs of his 
province, — to enumerate the special committees, the 
Divisions, the Trafile of each division, the High lights 
of each Trafile , the Sections and Squadrons . They took 
a general census of the captains, with a sketch of their 
lives, — embracing country, lineage, birth, parents, 


172 


LIONELLO. 


friends, riches, industry, talents, character, studies, 
virtues, and vices. Were they arch-dissemblers with 
a frank exterior? Were they men resolved to make 
any sacrifice for the society,— even parents, brothers, 
friends, wealth, their own persons? Every circum- 
stance is noted and entered in the act of Initiation , 
partly by the enr oilers, partly by the masters, partly 
by the censors. The ablest police cannot vie with the 
society in the precision and certainty of these records. 

The fiscal concerns of the association gave rise to a 
long and minute debate. Most of the delegates relied 
on the military and municipal treasures of the pro- 
vince, which the revolution would enable them to 
pillage. Others remarked that this w r as a poor re- 
liance, since the first and boldest plunderer empties 
the public coffers. The secularization of ecclesiastical 
property was slow and uncertain ; the robbery of the 
churches would wound the religious sensibilities of the 
Italians. What measures, then, were to be proposed ? 
It was deemed advisable to exact heavier contributions 
from the more affluent Carbonari. The Lombards, 
under the watchful eye of Austria, cannot resort to 
arms. But, as they are wealthy, they are bound to 
aid the other provinces which will take the field to 
effect the freedom of Lombardy and Venetia. Large 
hopes are built on the Jews, who are rich and zealous 
for the cause. Their funds must be chiefly expended 
in the purchase of munitions of war. An inventory 
was drawn up of the arms distributed to the conspi- 
rators, or held in reserve. The Sicilians furnished 
themselves with military stores at Malta; the Cala- 
brians, at the Ionian Islands. The Tuscans procured 
them at Leghorn, imported by French steamers. 


SEPULCHRE OF GALLA PLACIDIA. 173 

Arms were introduced into Piedmont from Savoy, 
Lombardy, and tbe Swiss Cantons. Smugglers pro- 
vided the maritime cities of tbe Adriatic with weapons 
obtained from the Levant, and from England, France, 
and Spain. Several subterranean armories were esta- 
blished in the Marches, Eomagna, and Central Italy. 
The supplies were brought down the Po and Ticino 
from the valleys of the Comachio, from Cervia and 
Maremme. But their chief trust was in the seizure of 
the military arsenals. Let the Italians show gallant 
hearts and stout arms, they will ever find at hand 
offensive weapons. There was a diversity of opinion 
in regard to Tuscany. Some of the deputies thought 
she ought to join in the revolutionary movements of 
Piedmont, the Papal States, and the duchy of Parma. 
Some, on the contrary, wished her to remain neutral, 
like a reserve camp. They maintained that the un- 
certainties of revolt are greater even than those of war ; 
that Tuscany could at any moment be brought into 
action; that the refugees from Naples, Spain, and Pied- 
mont, after the troubles of 1821, had sowed the revolu- 
tionary seed, which would bring forth fruit in due 
season. 

The counsel was good. In fact, after the discomfit- 
ure of the Bomagnese in 1831, the rebels fled into 
Tuscany, and, embarking at Leghorn, found an asylum 
in France. 

Another important question was, the necessary pre- 
cautions to baffle the Italian police. The delegates 
from Piedmont affirmed that several of the commis- 
saries had affiliated, but that the chiefs remained faith- 
ful to the king, Charles Felix. The Governor of 
Alexandria was an old man, as rough as a porcupine, 


174 


LIONELLO. 


or a bear, which with one blow of its paw can dash 
an ox into the air. He had made some campaigns 
in Bussia, and brought back to Italy, the boorishness 
of a Cossack and the frigidity of a Laplander. He 
ruled over the fortress like a pacha, reviewed the 
troops astride a cannon, and trotted our inferior 
officers almost to death. 

The Governor of Novara, with his lion-air, casts a 
vigilant and menacing look on Magadino and Belin- 
zona. He growls, but does not speak. The Governor 
of Genoa is a mild and polished gentleman ; but he is 
always accompanied by a general of division, who wears 
fierce moustaches and carries his head proudly. The 
Marshal-Governor of Turin is a cavalier of the old 
school, a loyal soldier, unsuspicious of our intrigues; 
but he is surrounded by a set of bull-dogs, which growl 
at every approaching step, and stealthily make their 
rounds, so as to fill us with uneasiness. 

“The conclusion, then," said a Neapolitan, “which 
we are to draw from your remarks, is that you are 
not ready.” 

“We shall be ready in March,” replied the Pied- 
montese; “but we shall have hard work till then. 
But now, my Neapolitan friends, let us consider 
your condition, which you do not expose with all 
its difficulties. There are certain heads in the palace 
and Swiss soldiers in the castle of St. Elmo who pro- 
bably will give you trouble.” 

The Duke of Modena was also a topic of prolonged 
discussion. A majority of the deputies thought it 
advisable to pistol him as he passed through the 
Castello gate, before his faithful hussar had time to 


SEPULCHRE OF GALLA PLACIDIA. 175 

shield him with his pelisse. But a member of the 
central committee objected to the plan. 

“ Leave this matter to Menotti, who will trap the 
mole. The duke fancies himself very cunning, with- 
out perceiving that he is completely in our toils. He 
pays our spies, and has despatched on a tour of obser- 
vation in Grermany and France, a young man who is 
doing us an excellent service.” 

An essential point on which this nocturnal diet de- 
cided was to hold in readiness the journalists for the 
revolutionary explosion. A number of directors were 
mentioned, on whom individually the duty devolved 
of choosing deep-mouthed bravos to bark furiously. 
They assigned names to the newspapers ; because a fine 
name excites curiosity. They spoke of printers and 
booksellers leagued for a twofold purpose : the first, to 
print no hooks which inveighed against liberty and 
our society : so that a writer who treated of the just 
and honorable should find no publisher. Or, if this were 
impracticable, the printer should put the manuscript 
in type, but the booksellers should decline to sell the 
work, or fling it aside in their stores. The second 
purpose was to print, publish, circulate by every ex- 
pedient, revolutionary books ; to issue handsome and 
cheap editions; to bring them into notoriety by ex- 
travagant puffs in the newspapers, and at the same 
time to wage a relentless war against religious writers. 
Each committee, moreover, should have a trusty 
publisher, to print secretly their documents, orders, and 
clandestine correspondence, on foreign paper, in charac- 
ters unknown to the printers, as the police had their eyes 
everywhere. The committee must not keep these 
papers and characters at their own dwellings, but de- 


LIONELLO. 


176 

posit them in a safe room at the house of a worthy 
widow or pious and parsimonious spinster, least liable 
to suspicion, and least disposed to open the door to 
every visitor.* 

Finally, the assembly entered on the subject of pro- 
scriptions; and each delegate had a list as long as 
Sylla’s or Catiline's. Some of the victims were to be 
dispatched by poison, poignard, or bullet ; others to be 
dispossessed of lucrative employments, honorable func- 
tions, and involved in ruinous lawsuits. Persons, again, 
who were held in high and merited esteem at court, in 
the army, or in departments of the Government, were to 
be crushed by infamous and outrageous calumnies, and 
thus driven into retirement. A different policy was to be 
observed toward those who had been kept in the back- 
ground, and had not met with the advancement which 
they had a right to expect. The associates were to tamper 
with the fidelity of these men by railing against the in- 
gratitude and injustice of their rulers. They were to 
leave officials who could not harm us, by word or action, 
undisturbed at their posts. Certain individuals they 
were to shackle in such a manner that they could not 
move hand nor foot ; others, again, they should debar 
from all chances of ameliorating their condition, and, 
whilst they corrupted their children, reduce their fami- 
lies to misery and despair. But, as if these dark and 
infernal schemes were only acts of Carbonarist courtesy, 
the envoys proceeded to examine the merits of their 
assassins, and the evidences of zeal which they had 

* The police of Genoa found at the house of a widow, in 1833, the 
most secret papers of the conspiracy. They were put on the scent 
by an herb-dealer, who saw suspicious-looking men enter this house 
at night. 


SEPULCHRE OF GALLA PLACID I A. ^77 

furnished; the necessity of putting the chiefs of squadrons 
in communication with this class of miscreants in other 
provinces; the means of saving them from the pursuit 
of justice, and enabling them to escape into foreign 
countries ; the places of refuge, the signs of recogni- 
tion, the manner of employing them; in fine, should 
they fall into the hands of the police, the plans to be 
adopted in order to rescue them, by suborning 
witnesses, and bribing bailiffs and prosecuting at- 
torneys. Whilst, surrounded with deep mystery, the 
deputies of the Carbonari, under these ancient vaults, 
amid these sepulchres, in face of that poignard on 
which glimmered the red light of the lamp, dis- 
cuss calmly and coolly these questions of treason 
and death, a tap is heard at the door. The internal 
coverer, who had been on watch all night, opened it at 
the appointed signal, and admitted one of the external 
coverers. He came to notify the assembly that it was 
time to adjourn, as it was nearly four o’clock. 

He advanced in silence, bowed before the dagger, 
placed his hand on the point of the weapon, and uttered 
the usual oath. Then, turning to the delegates, he said, 
“ Brothers, you can retire with as much safety as you 
assisted at the nocturnal conference. There is a 
coverer in the cloisters of St. Vitalis, and one at the 
end of the street, and at each of the crossings of this 
quarter of the city. To divert the vigilance of the 
carabineers, we gave them work for the whole night. 
In a drinking-establishment behind the square, we 
gave drink-money to a set of scamps, headed by the 
chief of a squadron, and directed them to get up 
a sham quarrel, so as to gather a crowd and attract 
the attention of the watch. They succeeded so well 


178 


LIONELLO. 


in creating a broil and uproar, that the company ran 
out of the neighboring smoking-rooms and tried to 
quiet the combatants. A detachment of carabineers 
shortly arrived on the spot with a brigadier or two, 
opened a way by striking the people with the flats of 
their sabres, handcuffed five or six of the rioters, and 
remained on the ground to overawe the others, who 
manifested a disposition to come speedily to blows. 

“But this is only child’s play to the serious fight 
we got up near the palace of Theodoric, where the 
sailors and fishermen usually resort when they enter 
the city. One of the coverers paid scot for five or 
six of these men; and when he saw them excited by 
the liquor, and ripe for mischief, he told them there 
was a party at another table who were making faces 
and laughing at them. He muttered, too, that one of 
them was more than a match for four of those cowardly 
fellows. Now, it happened that one of the five guests 
whom this coverer treated had an altercation, a few 
days before, with a young man of the other company. 
Nothing more was needed to push our man to extremes. 
He rushed upon his adversary with uplifted fist, and, 
measuring him with his eye, said, ‘Let me find you 
outside of the gate to-morrow, near the fountain, and 
you’ll get it.’ ‘Why to-morrow?’ quickly retorted 
the other. ‘I have a great mind to slap that hog’s. 
face of yours.’ ‘Slap my face! Blood and thunder! 
I’ll rip you up. I’ll cut the life out of you.’ 

“With these words he attacked his antagonist. The 
master of the house tried to separate them. The 
waiters were frightened ; the company fled in dismay, 
and shouted, ‘ Help ! help ! they are killing one another 
at Battistone’s !’ 


SEPULCHRE OF GALLA PLACIDIA. ^79 

u The cry was taken up on the square : ‘ Help ! Mur- 
der!' A crowd rushed to the house; people shut their 
doors; women looked out of the windows and inquired, 
How many are killed ?’ 

“The sister of a sailor engaged in the fight lived in 
the neighborhood. She entered the crowd and asked 
some women, ‘Who was attacked?’ They answered, 
‘Prospero.’ ‘My brother Prospero?’ she exclaimed. 
‘Ah! the dogs! the traitors!’ She seized a knife, 
and, with disordered hair and clothes, flew to the scene 
of combat. The spectators tried to stop her. ‘Let 
the men settle it: don’t go among those drunken 
fellows!’ Like a fury in her wrath, she rushed into 
the house. Every thing was topsy-turvy. Three of 
the guard had just arrived and made prisoner the man 
who had struck Prospero. Benedetta, his sister, glides 
like a cat through the throng, plunges the knife into 
the breast of the murderer, hunches the two carabineers 
in the stomach, and gains the door. 

“ But at that moment four other guards hastily enter, 
and seize her by the hair. She screams, bites, writhes, 
throws herself on the ground, and seeks to escape from 
their grasp. The whole neighborhood was in an uproar. 
Some persons carried Prospero home ; others attended 
to his enemy, who was desperately wounded. People 
were weeping, running about, and hastening from the 
spot. Thus, brothers, you see that everybody was too 
busy during the night to give a thought to the sepul- 
chre of Galla Placidia.” 

At the end of his speech, we arose silently and dis- 
persed to our lodgings. The president of the central 
committee employed every means to secure perfect 
harmony in our operations. He required each deputy 


180 


LIONELLO. 


to express his sentiments, and communicate informa- 
tion. We were, consequently, obliged to reassemble 
daily. But this was effected with serious danger, 
inasmuch as the police had been roused to greater 
vigilance within a few days. A commissary had been 
shot in the carriage of the Cardinal Legate, and an 
ecclesiastic wounded at his side. Hence we were 
obliged to meet in the loneliest places of Ravenna, 
and change our ground every day. 

One day I met three of ours in the baptistery, 
adjoining the basilica Ursiana, and on reaching St. 
Nicholas’ I found three more. Two awaited me in 
the basilica Spirito Santo. They smiled as they looked 
at the small window through which, according to tradi- 
tion, a dove was wont to descend on the head of the 
archbishop elect of Ravenna on the day when the 
Holy Ghost chose him for that office. Five other 
associates were sauntering in the portico of the bap- 
tistery of the Arriani. Entering this admirable struc- 
ture, as if to view its beauties, they joined us, and 
chatted on the current events of the day. Thence I 
went to St. Apollinaris’, where two Sicilians were ex- 
pecting me. They pretended to be examining the 
mosaic, which pictures ancient Ravenna and the port 
of Classis. We conversed a while, and then got into a 
carriage. We rode to Santa Maria di Porto, a church 
built by blessed Pietro Pescatore, of the noble family 
of the Onesti. There we found five more of the brethren, 
to whom we communicated the orders of the day. 

By these cautious proceedings, we in less than eight 
days matured our plans for a general rising, in March, 
1831. These plans were frustrated by the death of 
Pius VIII. and the election of Gregory XVI., the ex- 


SEPULCHRE OE GALLA PLACIDIA. Igl 

tinction of the house of Savoy in the person of Charles 
Felix, and the succession of Charles Albert of Carig- 
nano to the vacant throne. But the greatest obstacle 
with which we had to contend is the unmanageable 
character of the Italians, who will be ever distracted 
in their counsels, thoughts, laws, and interests. The 
idea of national unity is Utopian. Heaven and earth 
are opposed to this unity. The Italian people trace 
their lineage to too many sources, — the Saturnians, 
Enotrians, Sicilians, Pelasgians, Oscians, Tyrrhenians, 
Sabellians, Peucezians, Ligurians, Messapians, Bru- 
tians, Dorians, Eubeans, and a hundred other tribes 
which preceded them, or subsequently occupied the 
soil. The Carbonari and Young Italy will strive in 
vain to harmonize these discordant elements, to unite 
in one centre these divergent races. God placed the 
Vatican in the midst of this multiform assemblage; 
and the rock which He thus established brooks no rival 
nor master. In the unity of faith it attracts all nations 
to itself. There only unity exists, and there only will 
Italy find it, in defiance of the frantic efforts of Mazzini. 
The unity of which he dreams is the chimera of a 
madman ; and, sharing in his thoughts, I have shared 
in his folly. Alas ! I have awakened too late to this 
conviction, when remorse has hurried me to the verge 
of the abyss which is about to engulf me ! 


16 


182 


LIONELLO. 


CHAPTEE XV. 

ARIEL AND DORALICE. 

Father Antonio Cesari, priest of the Oratory of St. 
Philip Neri, at Verona, his birthplace, went, in the 
fall of 1828, to visit his friends in Eomagna, and espe- 
cially his beloved disciple Giuseppe Manuzzi, of Faenza, 
the glory of Italian literature and model of elegance in 
his native tongue. He then proceeded to Eavenna, 
to enjoy the delightful conversation of his friend the 
learned Monsignor Farini. There he died, the victim 
of a sudden and violent disease. This great man, the 
steadfast admirer and eulogist of Dante, was buried at 
Eavenna, which for the last five centuries guards the 
ashes of that illustrious poet. 

A few years since, I went to Verona, with Don Giulio, 
to visit the tombs of the Scaligers. I ardently desired 
to see and form the acquaintance of the eminent scholar 
who had revived and rehabilitated the study of our 
vernacular tongue, so rich, graceful, and noble. My 
preceptor had taught me to admire and relish its 
master-pieces. It was my good fortune to be at the 
mansion of Count Antonio Perez, in the Val Policella, 
in company with the counts Balladoro, when Father 
Cesari paid his annual visit to enjoy a few days’ re- 
laxation in the country. For hours I hung with rap- 
ture on his lips, whence streamed, in fluent and eloquent 
speech, criticisms on the ancient writers of Eome, and 
especially on Dante, whose beauties he exhibits in his 
dialogues. 


ARIEL AND DORALICE. 


183 


The charm of his natural simplicity completely won 
me. I compared this quality with the bold and lofty 
eloquence with which he denounced the vices of our 
age ; and I could scarcely identify the eminent preacher 
with the modest, calm, amiable gentleman who honored 
me with his friendship. I recollect the answer which 
he / made me one day when I spoke of the malignant 
dispositions of his enemies, and asked why he did not 
confound them. 

“ My dear Lionello, an attempt to do so would de- 
grade me beneath them : my silence lifts me above 
their malice. Be assured, if, instead of writing in 
honor of Jesus Christ, the Saints, and the Church, I 
had labored to drag imprudent youths into conspiracies, 
and shouted, ‘Liberty!’ the very men who now assail 
me with obloquy would heap eulogies on my head. 
But I would never exchange my lot for the most pomp- 
ous praises, bought at so vile a price. Fear God, 
Lionello ; cherish noble, honorable, virtuous sentiments ; 
and then let the jealous cravens croak.” 

Whilst I was at Bavenna, I visited the modest mar- 
ble tomb which encloses the mortal remains of one of 
Italy’s noblest sons. Silently I recalled his sensible 
remark, and felt the blood mantling my face. I lifted 
my eyes, and saw a young man examining the inscrip- 
tion graven on the tomb, “Antonio Cesari.” What 
magnificent eulogies could rival those two words of 
praise?* 


* Monsignor Stefano de Rossy Apostolic delegate of Ravenna, 
was pained to see the mortal remains of the learned writer Antonio 
Cesari, of the Oratory of Verona, reposing for several years, without 
due honor, under a modest stone in the Church of St. Romuald. He 
thought it meet that in the city where Guido di Polenta raised so 


184 


LIONELLO. 


The gentleman wore a cassock, which added to his 
height. I admired his broad chest, stout shoulders, 
robust figure, fitter for the gladiator than the Levite. 
His air was modest, recollected, calm, — the evidence of 
combat and victory. 

We stood alone in the church. It was about one 
o’clock p.m. on a weekday, when people are busy with 
their occupations. The ecclesiastic raised his head, 
looked at me, and exclaimed, with a deep voice, “ Lio- 
nello !” I studied his face with an expression of mirth 
and wonderment. It seemed like the face of an old 
acquaintance. But how could a priest accost me in 
that familiar tone, especially at Ravenna, where I 
knew no one but my fellow-conspirators? He extended 
his arm, presented his huge hand, and, pressing mine, 
said, — 

“ What, Lionello ! you don’t recognise me ! I know 
you have a right to reject my proffered hand, for it is 
the hand of a robber ; but I hope I have washed it of 
that crime by its three efforts to save your life. I am 
the student of Padua who attacked you on a certain 
night, filched your purse, and on the following evening 
gave you back the thirty cursed sequins.” 


fine a monument to Dante, the honor should be shared by the com- 
mentator and noble defender of the poet. He therefore ordered a 
marble tomb to be erected at his own expense, to convince strangers 
who visit Ravenna to examine the basilicas of the emperors and 
Byzantine exarchs, that there are still among us men of generous 
hearts who know how to honor science and virtue. Ravenna will 
feel grateful for the noble thoughtfulness of Monsignor di Rossi, who 
wished to celebrate thus the glory of one of his most illustrious 
fellow-citizens ; and all Italy will thankfully acknowledge the act 
which honored so worthily the restorer of its sweet, limpid, har- 
monious literature. 


ARIEL AND DORALICE. 


185 


I was thunderstruck. I scrutinized his features, and 
could scarcely recognise my former benefactor. He 
was shorn of his enormous moustache and long hair 
which used to hang in large curls on his shoulders. 

“ Pietro, can it be you ? And in that dress ?” 

Pietro answered, — 

“I came here to see an uncle who loves me as his 
own child. He is delighted to see me again, especially 
in this sacred dress. But let me ask you, in turn, why 
are you here? Ah, you do not know all the chagrin, 
uneasiness, and sorrow which I felt at your departure 
from Padua. You are so venturesome and rash that I was 
fearful you had fallen into the snares of your enemies.” 

Dissembling my anguish, I replied, — 

“Well, Pietro, do you know why I left Padua, and 
whither I went?” 

“No, indeed,” he answered. “You were aware of 
my anxiety to know. I had taken an oath to watch 
over you, to consecrate to your defence the strength of 
my arm, in expiation of the wrong which I had done 
you. God, in his goodness, enabled me to save your 
life several times. But you seemed to profit so little by 
all those lessons, that every night I dreaded some new 
misfortune. I never went home till I saw you safely at 
yours.” 

“ Generous soul !” I exclaimed. “You were my angel 
guardian.” 

“ I was the sincerest of your friends. After I had 
noticed your absence from the theatre and coffee-rooms, I 
went to your hotel, and inquired if you were sick. I was 
told that you had not been there for two days, and that 
it was not likely that you would return. There were 
strange reports among the students. Some said you 
16 * 


186 


L I 0 N E L L 0. 


had been arrested for debt ; some, that you had fought 
a duel, at Stra, with a Hungarian captain, about the 
dancing-girl Gilda, and wounded him severely, — that 
to escape the consequences you sought safety on the 
other side of the Po. Even the names of the seconds 
were mentioned. I did not believe a word of it, but 
suspected that the police had mistaken you for one of 
the Savages , in your attempts to discover that nefarious 
association, and driven you from Padua. However, 
alarmed at your non-appearance, I made inquiries of 
two commissaries of police, who were friends of mine. 
One of them could give me no information ; the other 
told me that your mother, the countess, having learned 
that you were going to destruction, called you home, 
and prevailed on you to marry.” 

“ Didn’t he tell you the name of the lady? That dis- 
covery would cost them little trouble.” 

“No,” replied Pietro; “but I was convinced that 
with the advantages of birth and fortune, you could 
form a princely alliance. Lionello, with your mind and 
heart, I am sure you would make your wife a happy 
woman.” 

“ Oh, very happy ! Just think, Pietro, that I would 
need only one evening to gamble away her dower at 
the faro-table!” 

Pietro was puzzled. I pressed his hand, and said, — 

“No, Pietro; I have no wife that I know of. If the 
police have one in reserve for me, you shall be one of 
the witnesses. But what in the deuce led a clever 
lawyer like you to fling yourself into the sacristy? I 
recollect, indeed, you used to go to mass, and soon cor- 
rected your first follies. But I never dreamed that 
after you had finished your studies you would put on 


ARIEL AND DORALICE. 

the cassock. What in the world put that whim in your 
head?" 

“ It is not a whim, Lionello, hut the admirable grace 
of God’s providence, who guides his creatures by secret, 
sure, and loving ways to the term of his mercies. I was, 
you know, attending the fourth year’s course of law- 
studies, preparing to undergo my examination and take 
my degree, when I met with a horrible adventure, 
which makes me shudder when I think of it. 

“ You must recollect Aristodemus, who wore his hair 
hanging on his shoulders and parted on the crown of 
the head, like a woman’s. We nicknamed him Ninetta. 
He boarded with a worthy family, and roomed a story 
above me. At the beginning of June the weather was 
exceedingly hot, and our Ninetta wet with perspira- 
tion took it into his head to bathe in the river Bacchi- 
glione. The water was cold for the season, and so chilled 
him that, had he not clung to an overhanging willow, 
he would certainly have been drowned. The sudden 
chill brought on a violent ague, affd disabled him from 
regaining the shore. 

“A peasant, happening to pass, rescued him from his 
perilous condition, helped him to put on his clothes, 
and accompanied him to the first restaurant, where he 
procured for him a glass of rum. On his return home 
he had frequent fainting-fits, and finally became deli- 
rious. A good woman of the hotel begged me to go up 
to his room and assist him, whilst her husband went 
for the doctor. When I saw him in this condition, 
grinding his teeth, foaming at the mouth, tossing on 
his bed, and giving symptoms of approaching death, I 
ordered some linens to be heated, and endeavored by 
rubbing his limbs to restore warmth to the surface. 


188 


LIONELLO. 


“When the physician arrived, he pronounced it a 
critical case. The husband was alarmed, the women 
were thrown into despair. The physician told them 
that certain fumigations were the only things that 
could save him. A servant ran to the apothecary’s, 
whilst the rest of the family zealously ministered to 
the sick man. I began to fear that the poor fellow 
would not outlive the night, and, anxious to save his 
unhappy soul, which had, I knew, to answer for the 
crimes of a misspent life, I went for the priest, and 
brought him to the bedside of the sufferer. The doctor 
had gone to see his other patients, but promised to re- 
turn about midnight. The young man had sunk into a 
deep lethargy, from which he awoke only at rare inter- 
vals to murmur imprecations and maledictions against 
a certain Doralice. 

“ The priest sprinkled him with holy water. At every 
aspersion, the sick man writhed on his bed. His hair 
stood on end. He gnawed the sheets with his teeth, 
clenched his hands, and, opening his eyes with a wild 
and terrified stare, struggled convulsively. Then the 
good priest placed the end of his stole on the man’s 
breast. His chest heaved like the bellows of a forge, 
his breath came quick and gasping, his heart seemed 
ready to leap from its cover. The women, speechless 
with terror, fled from the room. The husband stood 
bolt upright in a corner, afraid to look at the raving 
sick man, signing himself with the sign of the cross, 
and invoking St. Anthony. 

“About midnight the doctor returned. As soon as he 
saw the patient’s condition, he said, — 

“ 1 There is no hope for him. When he recovers from 
this paroxysm, let him see his confessor at once.’ 


ARIEL AND DORALICE. 


189 


11 He tried to administer to the sufferer a few drops 
of an anodyne, and then left the house. 

“About one o’clock the. dying man heaved a deep 
sigh. I raised his head, and prevailed on him to take a 
composing draught, which had a good effect. 

“ He opened his eyes, looked round him, and said, — 

“‘What is that priest doing here? — what does he 
want ?’ 

“ The priest gently replied, — 

“‘Signor Aristodemus, I was told you were sick, and 
I have come to pay you a visit, and offer you my ser- 
vices.’ 

“ The unhappy sinner exclaimed, with a contemptuous 
look, — 

“‘I don’t want a priest!’ 

“ ‘ Still, Signor Aristodemus, it would be well to think 
of your soul. In cases like yours there is great uncer- 
tainty; — you are seriously ill; — I trust you may get 
well; — but if you settle the affairs of your con- 
science ’ 

“‘I have no affairs to settle! — I have no conscience!’ 

“And he began to shriek, to writhe with convulsed 
limbs, to gnash his teeth, and roll his eyes around in 
the sockets till only the white balls were seen. 

“‘Put out that priest!’ he screamed, ‘put him out!’ 

“And, seizing the end of the stole, he dashed it into 
the pastor’s face, with demoniac rage. I advised the 
priest to withdraw for a while. Then, taking the sick 
man’s hand in mine, I soothed him ; and, fanning him 
with a handkerchief, I said, — 

“ ‘Aristodemus, the priest is gone.’ 

“‘He did not go of his own accord,’ he answered, 
with an infernal grin; ‘Doralice drove him away.’ 


190 


LIONELLO. 


“ He got a little easier, and I imagined that the crisis 
was past ; but suddenly he sprang from the bed with 
quivering frame, and, shaking his fist, shrieked out, — 

“ ‘ What do you want with me, you devil? Leave me 
in peace ! Yes, I hear the neighing of your Ariel. I 
see him foaming, pawing the ground, shaking his black 
mane, and glaring at me with flaming eyes! Yes, yes, 
I will mount him, I will ride him, and he will carry me 
off, far off ! Did I not take an oath ? I will not retract 
it, — I will not forswear myself. Go on, accursed crea- 
ture! goon: I will follow you!’ 

“After this violent paroxysm, and these mysterious 
words, which chilled me with horror, Aristodemus fell 
into a profound lethargy. I left the bedside, took by 
the arm the master of the house, who was beside him- 
self, and led him into an adjoining room, where the 
worthy ecclesiastic was praying before an image of the 
Blessed Virgin. I called the young girl, Antonietta, 
and asked her if she knew any thing about a certain 
Doralice, whom the dying man never mentioned but 
with maledictions. 

Nothing positive/ she replied. ‘All I can tell you 
is this. Last year, when I was mending the gentle- 
man’s pantaloons, I found, in one of the pockets, a case 
covered with red leather, and fastened with a small 
clasp. I opened it through curiosity, and saw a tuft 
of hair, around which was wrapped a slip of paper, with 
the words, Souvenir of Doralice. And inside were 
wound, it seemed to me, some horse-hairs, with the in- 
scription, The gage of Ariel . 1 The girl, then turning 
to the master of the house, said, ‘You recollect, Filippo, 
the night when Aristodemus cried out in his sleep, “ No, 
Doralice, not my soul; never!” You ran and shook 


ARIEL AND DORALICE. 


191 


him. He awoke in a great perspiration, trembling all 
over, and begged you to stay with him till he went to 
sleep again.’ 

“‘Yes/ said Filippo, ‘ 1 recollect.’ 

“ The priest began to pray for the miserable man, 
and begged us to join with him. 

“ I resumed my seat at his bedside. His lethargy 
continued till morning, when he awoke bathed in per- 
spiration. As soon as he saw me, he said, — 

“‘Oh, my good Pietro, what a dreadful night I have 
had ! How thankful I am to you for your kind atten- 
tions. But it will soon be over, for I am very ill.’ 

“‘My dear Aristodemus,’ said I, ‘I have assisted 
you very cheerfully, and I wish it was in my power to 
save your life. But if you feel yourself so ill, why not 
call in a priest and make your confession ? Let me 
assure you, my dear friend, peace of soul benefits the 
body.’ 

“ ‘ Pietro, there is no more peace for me. Oh ! don’t 
speak to me of a priest. I am damned ! I am lost for- 
ever ! I feel the fire of hell burning in my veins, and 
the clutch of the devil on my heart ; for my heart is 
his. I pawned it to him with an oath, and I cannot 
redeem it. Doralice knows it. Ariel was a witness of 
the compact. Ariel neighs and frets. I have already 
sacrificed two victims, and these two victims are the 
seal of my damnation.’ 

“ ‘I pressed his hand affectionately, kissed him on the 
forehead, and said, ‘Aristodemus, there is pardon for 
every sin. The grace of Jesus Christ is all powerful. 
But who are Doralice and Ariel ?’ 

‘“I am going to tell you.’ 


192 


LIONELLO. 


“He looked around the room, and made me a sign to 
wipe the perspiration from his face. 

“ ‘You probably remember the arrival, about a year 
and a half since, before the anniversary festival of the 
Patron Saint, of an equestrian troup, in which two 
women were engaged. One of them, from Mecklenburg, 
was tall, masculine, and so singularly beautiful that 
the young men of the university called her Juno. 
Many of them were fascinated by her charms; but 
none more than myself. I loved her to adoration. But 
this woman, whom I regarded as a celestial being, was, 
in fact, an incarnate fiend. She was initiated in the 
darkest mysteries of the Illuminati, and so devoted to 
their society that they gave her the commission of an 
enroller and master . 

“ 1 From the frantic attachment I evinced, she began 
to study me as an object of interest. She soon dis- 
covered my vicious character. I was, indeed, utterly 
corrupt and enslaved by the most criminal passions. 
This woman wanted no other vantage-ground. She 
began to initiate me gradually in the mysteries of 
Weishaupt, and led me on as a captive till she broke 
the last seal of duty and cast me into the jaws of the 
demon. Eternal curses on the night when Doralice 
made me a worshipper of Satan ! She took a lantern 
in her left hand and put her right in mine, then passed 
through her suite of apartments on the first floor, and 
began to descend the stairs. At every step I heard 
below like the chafing of a horse, then quick neighings 
and incessant pawings. Doralice opened a small door, 
and we found ourselves in a stable. 

“ ‘ I saw fastened in a corner a large, coal-black horse, 
with a white star on his forehead. As soon as he saw 


ARIEL AND DORALICE. 


193 


the female, he ceased to neigh. He looked at her with 
fiery eyes, switched his tail, erected his long mane, and 
made his ears quiver like the forked tongues of basi- 
lisks. Doralice set down her lantern on the edge of 
the fountain, and its light gleamed ominously on the 
surface of the water. She then addressed me : — “ Aris- 
todemus, this is Ariel, my good genius. Put your right 
hand on his head, between the ears." Tremblingly I 
stretched out my hand. The horse fretted and tossed 
his head with disdain. The perfidious woman eyed me 
wrathfully, and said, "You trembling coward ! What! 
you still believe in a God ?” I felt the blood congeal 
in my veins. She uttered a word in German. Ariel 
bowed his head, and I placed my hand upon it. She 
took some water from the fountain in her two hands, 
threw it into my face, and, placing the front finger on 
the white star, said, “ I baptize thee in the name of 
Ariel. Your name henceforth is Teucro. May the 
white star of Ariel be for you a presage of happiness.” 
She loosened the horse and led him into the middle of 
the stable. She placed her left hand on my right 
shoulder, and her right on my heart, which was throb- 
bing violently. Then she turned her head to the horse, 
and, with a motion of her lips, pronounced, “Happ!” 
The animal turned rapidly, approached us, placed his 
nostrils close to her hand over my heart, shivered, and 
uttered a loud neigh. She now retired a little in the 
rear, looked steadily at the horse, and spoke some words 
in German. The beast reared on his hind-legs till his 
head almost touched the ceiling. She clapped her 
hands, and he stretched himself on the ground gentle 
as a lamb. 

“ ‘Doralice then took off her shawl and put it on the 
17 


194 


LIONELLO. 


shoulders of the horse, which bent his knees to the 
earth. She mounted, touched him lightly with her 
heel, and he arose. There she resembled Deianira on 
the Centaur. She called me to her side and said, 

“ Aristodemus, place your head under my foot.” I 
obeyed. She pressed the foot upon me, and exclaimed, 

“ Disciple of Ariel, do you promise to be faithful to the ' 
angel of the white star ?” I answered, “ 1 do.”* She 
struck the animal’s croup, and immediately he began 
to tremble, chafe, foam, paw, and prance. Doralice 
laid her hand on his mane, and said to him, “Ariel, be 
still; Teucro is yours.” At once he was motionless. 
Doralice sprang to the earth with a bound, removed her 
shawl, threw it around my neck, and drew me toward 
Ariel. “Kiss his star,” she said. I kissed it. “Give 
him now your hand, in token of fidelity.” The horse, 
to my utter amazement, lifted his right leg and pre- 
sented me his foot. 

“ 1 Pietro, I cannot tell you my sensations when I 
grasped that iron-bound hoof. I feel it still in my hand 
as a crushing weight. Ariel looked at me, understood 
my feelings, snorted, smacked his lips, and spurted 
froth into my face. I am yet scorching from that 
infernal saliva ; and you talk to me of a priest ! My 
soul is pawned to Ariel. Doralice plucked one of his 
hairs, made it into a circle, and wrote the words, “ Gage 
of Ariel.” Here it is, before your eyes. I wear it 
around my neck, with a curl of that damnable woman. 
And you speak to me of divine mercy ? There is no 
longer mercy for me. Ariel is Satan. I see him now 


* This is human pride, which, scorning to submit to the Creator 
and Sovereign of the universe, consecrates itself to the devil in secret 
societies, and crouches beneath the foot of a prostitute. 


ARIEL AND DORALICE. ^95 

by my side. He neighs, he foams, he paws with his 
hoofs ; he bends his knees to take me on his back, as he 
did Doralice, and plunges me into hell !’ 

“Lionello,” said Pietro to me, “ I assure you that at 
that moment I shook with terror. God, however, gave 
me grace to say to the wretched man ; 1 Aristodemus, 
calm yourself. You have been cruelly deceived by this 
false-hearted woman. You know very well that these 
circus-riders train their horses to a thousand pranks of 
agility. I have myself seen some very extraordinary 
ones. The spectators are amazed, and they shout, “A 
miracle !” But, after all, it is nothing more than the 
effects of clever training. Your Ariel was only a well- 
broken horse : the devil had nothing to do with him, 
and Doralice was not even a magician. She was a 
cunning disciple of the Illuminati, who has succeeded 
in trammelling you with the oaths of that execrable 
society. That’s the amount of it.’ 

“ ‘ But I have sold my soul to Satan ! the bargain 
was made ! Pietro, that is a hellish society. I have 
not only damned my own soul : I seduced two young 
men : I made them disown Christ, and His name, and 
their baptism. I have plunged them into the gulf of 
perdition.’ 

“At this moment, the priest, anxious to save that 
unhappy soul, moved toward the door. As soon as 
Aristodemus saw him, he shrieked out, ‘Pietro, you 
have betrayed me! The priest is there: there he 
plants the cross on the threshold, and behind him I see 
two glaring eyes!” He writhed in convulsions, and 
buried his head in the bedclothes. 

“ The good priest, without entering the room, began 


196 


LIONELLO. 


to recite the exorcisms of the Church ; to which I re- 
sponded ‘Amen.'* 

“ The sick man lay perfectly still. I heard a seeth- 
ing sound in his bosom, a deep and hollow rattle in 
his throat, a gasping for breath, which heaved his 
chest violently. In a little while he was frightfully 
swollen. I crossed the room, and said to the priest, 
‘I do not hear him breathe any more.' He stepped 
lightly to the bedside, and said to me, ‘Raise the 
clothes a little/ Gracious heavens ! he was stark 
dead, and horribly disfigured by the swelling of the 
body. The face was livid, nay, black ; the form no longer 
human ; the corpse befouled with torrents of bile and 
blood which had gushed from his mouth. 

“Lionello, this dreadful death struck a salutary 
terror into my heart. I left that chamber with a fixed 
resolution to shun the snares of the impious, and con- 
secrate myself to God. I took my degree of doctor at 
the university, and returned home. A few days after, 


* Let men laugh, if they choose, who disbelieve these compacts 
with the devil, in the accursed mysteries of secret societies ; especially 
when the unfortunate men who form these compacts are struggling in 
the agonies of death. Their unseasonable mirth will not be shared 
by those who have often stood by the bedside of the dying sinner. 
We may confirm our assertions 1 by citing a fact which occurred during 
the outrages of the Mountain, after the expulsion of Louis Philippe 
in 1848. Some members of this brutal society surrounded the house 
of a parish priest in one of the sections of Paris, and insulted him 
with horrible yells and blasphemies. The venerable and pious 
clergyman, at the sight of their frantic conduct, put on his stole, 
read the exorcisms, and through the open window sprinkled the 
miserable creatures with holy water. He stated the fact to a respect- 
able person, to whom we are indebted for the information, that at each 
aspersion their fury abated, and that, without any other apparent 
cause, they slunk away one after another, in different directions. 


ARIEL AND DORALICE. 


197 


I went to Ferrara, and there made a good general con- 
fession. I trust God has forgiven me. May He grant 
me to repair the scandals I gave my companions !” 

Then, casting himself suddenly at my feet, he cried; 
“And you, Lionello, I beseech you to pardon me, 
through the love of Jesus Christ, the outrage which 
I committed against you.” 

His action made me tremble and recoil. “ Get up, 
Pietro, get up, I beg you. I pardon you indeed with all 
my heart.” Had I then yielded to the emotions which 
agitated my breast, I should have thrown myself on my 
knees before him, asked his pardon for my scandals, 
owned myself more sacrilegious, more perjured, than 
Aristodemus. Would to God that I had done it! I 
would not now be a prey to the remorse which is 
devouring me, to the despair which makes my life an 
anticipated hell. Pride held me back. I raised my 
friend from the ground, and, with affected composure, 
inquired if he had an ecclesiastical patrimony. I of- 
fered him an excellent benefice. Don Pietro thanked 
me for my kindness, said he was already provided for 
by his family, bade me a friendly farewell, and left the 
church. There I stood alone, a prey to dismal thoughts, 
at the tomb of Antonio Cesari. 

Two days later, I quitted Bavenna. I was afraid 
to meet Pietro again. That interview had deeply 
affected me. His image was ever before my eyes. 
He seemed to start up before me in every street and 
at every door, to follow me, seize my hand, kneel 
at my feet, and conjure me to return to God. Doubt- 
less God in His sweet providence had designed that 
meeting to secure my salvation. Instead of seeking 
a refuge in his arms, I sought in flight an escape from 
divine mercy. 17 * 


198 


L 1 0 N E L L 0. 


CHAPTER XVI. 

THE RETURN OF THE CARBONARO. 

I had learned from Don Pietro that my acquaint- 
ances at Padua knew nothing of my imprisonment. 
This information decided me to return home, where, 
assuredly, the family would be doubly ignorant of my 
misconduct. I had been absent more than two years. 
For, after having passed my examination at Bologna to 
take the degree of doctorate, I fell into the hands of 
the Carbonari; and, having spent the winter in the 
Romagna, I visited, in the ensuing spring, Rome, 
Naples, and Sicily, as a delegate of the society. There I 
received orders to repair to Malta, Corfu, and the other 
Ionian isles, to prepare them for the outbreak of 1831. 
One result of my mission was to provide for the safety 
of a large number of the brethren, who, by the 
amnesty of 1846, returned to Italy to rekindle the 
fires of the conspiracy. I had then to traverse rapidly 
Germany, France, and England; to return to Warsaw 
and re-enter the Romagna, the bearer of letters from 
the Vendite and secret committees. 

It is beyond my power to express the delight of my 
mother and sister on my return, or the affectionate 
attentions of my relations and friends. But hell was 
raging in my heart, and the stormy passions which 
ravaged my soul debarred me the enjoyment of the 
sweets of home and the tenderness of my mother and 
sister. The house wore a changed aspect to my eye. 
A gloom hung around every object ; and the brightest 


THE RETURN OF THE CARBONARO. pQQ 

sun awoke no joy in my breast, as I trod those sump- 
tuous apartments and that magnificent garden. 0 
thou who readest these lines, if thou wanderest from 
the dwelling which gave thee birth, to fall into the 
gulf of secret societies, open to me thy heart. Tell 
me, when thou re-visitedst the home which heard thy 
infant cries, saw thy first tottering steps, gathered the 
earliest words of thy lips, covered the gambols of inno- 
cence, and witnessed the endearments of maternal love, 
oh, tell me if that home was not veiled with the dark- 
ness of the tomb ! Beyond its threshold, thou art the 
victim of a wild and excited imagination. The words 
and actions of thy treacherous seducers whirl thee in 
a vortex, rob thee of self-consciousness, deny thy errant 
thoughts and tumultuous affections a moment’s repose. 
But when thou returnest to the silence of thy chamber, 
the quiet management of thy affairs, thy heart is 
troubled; thy reason looks on a horizon lit up by 
-flashes which bode the storm; thy conscience resumes 
its wonted sway, and thou art constrained to affect a 
peace which thou dost not feel, to wreathe thy lips with 
hypocritical smiles and compose thy features to a deceit- 
ful calm. 

Alas ! what anguish did I endure when that pure 
and charming Josephine came to reveal to me, with 
admirable ingenuousness, the secrets of her soul; the 
ideas which had agitated that devoted heart during 
my protracted absence; the pains, and joys, and fears 
which she felt on receiving my letters ; the busy thoughts 
which crowded her mind when she had to answer them; 
the habit which she had formed of tracing my travels 
on the map and reading descriptions of the countries 
which I had traversed ! She had imagined herself the 


200 


LIONELLO. 


companion of my journeys to Sicily, Malta, Cephalonia, 
now clinging to my side amid the terrors of the storm, 
now admiring with me the trembling beams of the 
moon as she arose above the waves of the sea. These 
were the sweet dreams which night and day haunted 
her young imagination. In fine, she communicated 
her first hopes, her first affections, all her desires, 
doubts, joys, and griefs. 

I was no longer capable of enjoying the delights of in- 
nocence. I did violence to myself in my efforts to respond 
to those pure smiles, which my heart could no longer 
appreciate. The eyes of Josephine, radiant with joy, 
mirrored the depths of her soul, as she unhesitatingly, 
in the intimacy of our relations, poured into my ears 
her minutest thoughts. At times she stopped suddenly, 
looked at me with a troubled heart, and said, “ Dear 
Nello, what is the matter?” “Nothing: continue.” 
“Ah,” she replied, “ you look so sad !” And then she 
redoubled her caresses. 

I had already told my mother that I had made up 
my mind to go at the close of the winter to Paris, Lon- 
don, and Northern Germany. She was deeply pained 
at the intelligence. She said that I had scarcely 
arrived when I wanted to forsake them again, that my 
sister’s marriage would take place in a few months, 
and that then she would be left alone, a childless widow. 
She charged me with ingratitude and want of feeling. 
I made her false protestations, and promised an early 
return. I told her she would have the society of Don 
Giulio. My poor mother ! How cruelly I lied to her ! 
The oath of the Carbonaro obliges him to renounce all 
natural affections, to sacrifice to blind obedience and the 
tyranny of the society, the most sacred duties. 


THE RETURN OF THE CARBONARO. 201 

Josephine, unable to overcome my obstinacy, made 
ample arrangements for my departure. Owing to her 
devoted attentions, I was supplied with every thing. 
Often, indeed, she gave me proofs of the liveliest affec- 
tions of a young heart, by laying aside the preparations 
for her marriage. One day, without my knowledge of 
her presence, she was in my chamber, packing my 
trunk. A stranger was announced. I received him 
in the small parlor ; and after the first salutation, he 
addressed me abruptly : — 

“Giulio, what are you doing? The committee en- 
joins on you to depart without delay. Events are 
crowding on us. The days of July which overthrew 
Charles X. are pledges of hope and liberty. Italy is 
prepared to grasp them. The grand masters of the 
Carbonari at Paris and London desire to have some 
information of our labors, prospects, preparations for 
the decisive blow. Go at once : kindle, warm, inflame 
every heart. The eye of Italy is on you. The com- 
mittee confide to. your zeal the great undertaking. 
Orestes is already in advance of you, Horatius in 
Belgium, and Decius in Switzerland.” 

I begged him to allow me a brief space to assist at 
the marriage of my sister. His brows contracted, and 
his mouth assumed a malicious grin. He fixed on me a 
searching look. A satanic glance shot from his eye 
and pierced my heart like a poisoned dart. He took 
his hat, and, muttering the words, “I understand,” de- 
parted. 

These harsh words threw a gloom on my heart. 
The order was cruel. I knew not what pretext I 
should plead to palliate to my mother and sister this 
hurried departure. Then I felt the ruthless and op- 


202 


LIONELLO. 


pressive rule of secret societies. Sad, harassed, dis- 
couraged, I strode up and down my room. I devised 
the sweetest phrases to announce the fatal news to my 
mother. But all my studied address was embittered 
by those two words, “ I depart.” At length I went down 
to her apartments, and with steady features told her 
that, on account of Josephines marriage, I wished to 
make a hurried excursion to Paris and buy a set of 
diamonds for her and an elegant nuptial present. At 
first she opposed strongly what she deemed a mere 
caprice. But I employed so many arguments that this 
good mother, amid her tears and complaints, at length 
yielded her consent. 

It was midnight, and I could not sleep. In silence 
and sadness I was reading over the instructions of the 
committee. I was arranging my plans, devising means 
to borrow money on interest, — as I was not yet of age, 
and my quota for the purchase of arms was assessed at 
fifty thousand francs. Whilst, surrendered to gloomy 
thoughts, I lay stretched on my bed, I suddenly heard, 
in the deep silence of night, the light rustling of a 
dress. The door was cautiously opened, and I beheld 
Josephine entering the room with a timid and irreso- 
lute step. Whilst I fixed my eyes upon her in asto- 
nishment, she whispered, — 

“Nello.” 

“What is the matter, my dear sister?” 

“Nello, can I come in?” 

“Certainly. But, dearest, why are you not in bed 
at this late hour?” 

Josephine advanced on tiptoe, light as an angel of 
our night-dreams. She came to my side, and accosted 
me : — 


THE RETURN OF THE CARBONARO. 203 

“ How could I go to bed, my dear brother, and sleep, 
when my heart is so agitated? You left our beloved 
mother in the deepest distress at the news of your 
departure. Hello, why do you thus afflict her? I beg 
you to take pity on her and on me, who love you so 
devotedly. You tell me that you are going to procure 
me a marriage-present, — precious gems to deck my 
bridal wreath, and bracelets, and other ornaments. 
Hello, what will be these nuptial rites, bedewed with 
the tears of my mother ? Alas ! they will be bitter 
harbingers of death. Do you think that mamma, who 
bewailed your long absence so grievously, will survive 
this new trial ?” 

I interrupted her, and said, — 

“My dear Josephine, I will soon return.” 

She bent over me, pressed my head with her hands, 
kissed me affectionately, and said, — 

“Hello, you will never come back. You do not 
undertake this journey on my account. My presenti- 
ments are fatal. Your heart is weaned from us ; you 
are no longer yourself. Why have you changed your 
name ? Why are you now called Giulio ?” 

At that word I trembled with affright from head to 
foot. I gasped for breath, and exclaimed, as I cast a 
terrifying look upon her, — 

“Pina, what are you saying?” 

The poor girl bounded back, covered her face with 
her hands, and, crying out, “Holy Virgin, help me!” 
fled quickly from the room. 

I lay thunderstruck, motionless, blind to all things 
around me. What horrible expression, to fill her with 
dismay, had this young, pure-hearted girl read in my 
eyes, sparkling with the fires of atrocious conspiracies, 


LIONELLO. 


204 

and flaming with, diabolical and infernal light ? I do 
not doubt that we, who are so clever in veiling our 
secrets, who manage our words and actions so adroitly 
in our intercourse with the world, in our conversa- 
tions with princes, officers of the police, courtiers the 
shewdest and most expert, as to prevent the slightest 
suspicion transpiring, become, under the excitement 
and rage which the spirit of secret societies produces 
in us, exact images of Satan, in human shape. And I, 
who have so often struck terror into others by my 
look, have stood aghast at the aspect of my ferocious 
companions.* 


CHAPTER XVII. 

THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 

After having torn myself from the arms of my 
mother and sister, and the sight of their tears, I 
hastened to Novara. There I conceived the idea of 
ascending the Great St. Bernard and entering Swit- 
zerland by that pass, travel by Geneva to the defiles 
of the Jura, course along the banks of the Rhine, and 

* What Lionello recounts we have often seen at Rome with our own 
eyes, — especially in the more violent outbreaks of May 1 and of the 15th 
and 16th of November, 1848, and during the siege. Men with horribly- 
distorted countenances, with fierce and sinister eyes, seemed trans- 
formed into dragons and basilisks. The spectator shrank from their 
hideous aspect. Youths among them, gifted with personal beauty, 
exhibited in their flashing eyes the pride and ferocity of incarnate 
fiends. They were the counterparts of the demoniacs of George Sand 
and Balzac. 


THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 205 

proceed by Lyons to Paris. I gave directions to my 
servant to follow with the carriage the route of the 
Simplon and wait for me at Martigny. I journeyed 
from Vercelli to Ivrea. 

This ancient seat of Italian -royalty caused, in a 
great measure, the downfall of Charles Albert. Thanks 
to the new history of Luigi Cibrario, the monarch 
fancied himself the only king of Italian origin, and 
hence concluded that his kingdom should rightly 
extend from Varo to Livenza. With this idea, he 
boldly declared war against Austria, mistress of the 
Lombardo-Venetian territory. The issue was doubly 
disastrous. He was defeated at Custoza, and afterward 
at Novara. Instead of winning a new kingdom, he 
lost his crown, and died of chagrin in a foreign land. 
This magnanimous and unfortunate king, during his 
illness at Oporto, saw his former flatterers distract his 
kingdom and tyrannize over the youngVictor Emmanuel. 
He should then have bidden his son renew the valor 
which he had displayed at Goito, Monzambano, and 
Pastrengo, and, like Emmanuel Philibert after the 
battle of St. Quentin, deliver Piedmont from the claws 
of the vultures which were tearing its vitals. From 
Ivrea I followed the course of the Lora Baltea, and 
reached the narrows of Bard, where nature and art 
have posted and fortified the craggy palisades which 
guard these wild mountain-passes. A road to the 
summit is scarped from the living rock, fenced with 
parapets, which date back two thousand years, con- 
nected by bridges, buttressed by solid counter-forts. 

It seems as if the head of this high mountain had 
been wrung from its wooded shoulders by a violent 

inundation, and hurled with enormous boulders to the 

18 


206 


LIONELLO. 


bottom of tbe valley. These boulders are piled on each 
other, and overhang the abyss where boil and foam 
the brawling waters of the Dora Baltea. In the midst 
of this scene of confusion — the work of a thousand 
storms — the fortress- of Bard stands menacingly, and 
commands the defiles which separate the Greek from the 
Pennine Alps. Far above the precipices are perched 
towers and forts, whose batteries sweep the only prac- 
ticable route across the mountain. No voyager can 
pass without permission of the garrison of Bard. And 
yet Napoleon passed there with his army, — cavalry, 
artillery, and caissons. How did he succeed in this 
daring enterprise? Was it the result of valor, strata- 
gem, or treason? With six pieces of ordnance the 
Austrians might have arrested the march of the- ad- 
venturous Consul. By this gorge Bonaparte descended 
into Lombardy, defeated Melas at Marengo, and opened 
to his ambition the doors of the empire. 

Aosta, ancient seat of the Salassi, stands at the ex- 
tremity of the immense valleys between Baltea and 
Dora. It is exceedingly rich in monuments of the 
Augustan era, — master-works of the golden age of 
art. The triumphal arch recalls the victories of 
Valerius Mesalla and Terentius Varro over the war- 
like Salassians. 

The two Praetorian gates are in a state of fine pre- 
servation, and perpetuate the memory of the colony 
established there by Octavius Augustus. The entire 
city is still encircled with walls, and attests the admi- 
rable strategic science of the Homans. At intervals of 
twenty feet, square towers jut from the curtain ; and 
the wall itself is faced with immense slabs of polished 
marbles, with coping-stones beneath the parapet. A 


THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 207 

large portion of the curtain was dismantled, as the 
inhabitants of Aosta formerly carried off these slabs to 
construct public and private edifices. Only the sur- 
face, however, has undergone these mutilations. 

In this city I made the acquaintance of the Canon 
Gall, a distinguished antiquary and accomplished gen- 
tleman. He accompanied me in my examination of 
these admirable monuments, and drew my attention to 
their beauties. He showed me the remains of the 
theatre, amphitheatre, corn-forum, magnificent bridges, 
— of the old cathedral, the basilica of Sant’ Orso, and 
some splendid structures of the Goths and Lombards. 
But the most curious relic which I noticed was an 
ancient Greek diptych, of a positive date, since it is 
adorned with an ivory portrait of Honorius III., a.d. 
406. In our visit to the lepers’ tower, which Xavier 
de Maistre has rendered so famous, he begged me to 
observe certain projections which abutted, at regular 
distances, the interior of the wall of Augustus, and 
remarked that he was unable to determine whether 
they had been constructed as mere buttresses or battle- 
ments to enable the defenders to fight on the ramparts. 
In my travels, I had noticed, at Rome, the Praetorian 
camp of Probus, the camp of Tiberius’s Praetorian 
guards in the island of Caprea, and the soldiers’ 
quarters at Cape Misenum. I therefore suggested to 
him that they were most probably casemates built 
along the curtain. The canon admitted the correct- 
ness of my opinion, and added that each casemate ac- 
commodated ordinarily ten soldiers and one decurion. 

On leaving Aosta, I entered the beautiful and charm- 
ing valley which extends as far as Etroubles. But after 
traversing this range of hills, bordered with green 


208 


LIONELLO. 


pastures and crowned with, vineyards, picturesque 
groves of chestnut, and clusters of walnut and beech, 
I had not the remotest idea of finding myself, by a 
sudden turn of the road, in these precipitous gorges of 
the mountain, whose enormous sides tower to the skies. 
When I arrived at St. Oyen, I beheld immense forests 
of oak and pine, swaying and waving with the winds 
which issued from the glaciers and rushed through the 
deep defiles. 

As I mounted from acclivity to acclivity, from rock 
to rock, new valleys rose before my eyes, till they were 
lost in the clouds. My ear caught the murmur of 
cascades, which leaped into the valleys and hurried to 
swell the waters of the Baltea. 

When I reached St. Bemi, I got out of the light, 
narrow car which is used to thread the contracted 
paths of the mountain. I stopped at a small inn, where 
every thing wore an air of great cleanliness, called for 
a good breakfast, and ordered a horse and guide to 
ascend St. Bernard. The innkeeper looked at me with 
astonishment. “A guide!” said he. “Why, signor, 
three wouldn't be enough. Just look at the weather. 
A few steps from the village is snow twice a man’s 
height, and the farther you go the deeper you’ll find 
it. The horse, of course, will be rough-shod ; but, with 
all his calkins, there are slippery places to pass. You’ll 
have to get off your horse and trust to your arms.” 
I told him then to procure four men for me. He 
whistled, and immediately his daughter came into the 
room. She was a good mountain lass, who spoke to 
me wi.th much modesty of the difficulties and dangers 
of the way. Poor thing ! She told me of the loss of 
her brother, a youth of twenty years, who, in the pre- 


THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 209 

ceding year, had been swept into a chasm by an ava- 
lanche. . She pointed through the window to the scene 
of the disaster. It was only in the month of May that 
her family was able to recover the body, crushed under 
a mass of rocks and trees. 

“ He is buried,” said she, “ in the neighboring ceme- 
tery, and our blacksmith, who was a great friend of 
his, made a most beautiful cross to put at the head of 
the grave. Every evening I go there to say a De 
profundis for the repose of his soul ; and as long as the 
flower-season lasts, I make every day a new garland. 
I go sometimes under the very glaciers to pick the 
finest.” 

“What!” said I, “are there flowers under the snow 
and amid the glaciers?” 

“Oh, yes : the snow-heaps are scarcely melted, when 
we see, peeping from the ground, a delicate green 
blade; then, in a very short time, beautiful daisies, red, 
yellow, and blue, purple-colored narcissus, crimson hya- 
cinths, and saffron valerian. I weave them into wreaths 
and hang them on my brother’s cross. Ah, signor, you 
are, from your pronunciation, an Italian, and of course 
a Catholic. Are you not ? Then let me beg of you, 
When you reach the hospice, to say an ave for him to 
the Madonna; and if you will have a mass said for him, 
I will never forget your kindness. I was there on his 
feast-day, in September, and I went to communion for 
my poor brother, at Remi.” 

As she spoke these words her bosom heaved, and, 
wiping her eyes, she looked at me with an expression 
so pure and innocent that I was deeply moved. Reader, 
would you believe it ? At that moment, I was heartily 
a Catholic. I promised to have not only one, but six 
18 * 


210 


L I 0 N E L L 0. 


masses said for her brother; and I kept my word. She 
took my hand affectionately, and kissed it, with a trans- 
port of joy which beamed forth her whole soul on her 
lips. 

0 Josephine! this mountain-maid recalled you to 
my mind. I saw your pure and serene eyes reflected 
in hers; for the eyes of innocence are ever beautiful, in 
the cabin as in the palace. 

The innkeeper returned with four young mountain- 
eers, full six feet high, muscular and robust. Their 
complexion was fresh and healthy. They said to me, 
with a confident air, — 

“You needn’t be afraid, signor; we are with you.” 

They wore beechen shoes studded with nails, panta- 
loons of coarse woollen cloth, a stout jacket, a comforter 
around the neck, and a thick cap with flaps to cover, 
when it was necessary, ears and cheeks. 

Each one carried a long, knotty stick, pointed with 
iron. These fine, strapping fellows invited me to mount 
my horse, which carried a double-peaked saddle. Be- 
fore and behind me, they had fastened two thick blan- 
kets, to cover me in case I became benumbed with the 
cold. They made a large sign of the cross, and set out. 
Two went ahead, and one, on each side of me. We pro- 
ceeded at a brisk step; but as we proceeded farther 
into these narrow gorges, we were enveloped in a cold 
cloud which chilled us to the heart. From time to 
time I heard distant noises, which, echoing from rock 
to rock, died away in the adjacent glaciers. These sounds 
terrified me. I fixed my eye steadfastly on the path 
before me, when, as we turned a projecting shoulder of 
the mountain to enter a kind of ravine, a cracking and 
crashing smote the ear and filled me with alarm. 


THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 211 

“Look out, signor!” shouted the guides. “Look to 
the left! An avalanche!” 

I raised my eyes and saw the rapid descent of an 
enormous mass of snow, which, accumulating as it fell, 
snapped, and hurried along in its course huge oaks, 
loftiest firs, and venerable beeches. Down they went, 
leaping and bounding with the bellowing of a mighty 
wind. The mountain of snow struck a vast rock, and, 
hurled far into the air, was precipitated to the bottom 
of the torrent. The surrounding mountains pealed, 
heaps of snow were detached, the glaciers were riven, 
and the stream, cumbered by the avalanche, foamed 
and boiled madly. 

We had approached the edge of the chasm. The 
mountaineers were treading cautiously. At every step, 
they raised their eyes to the left, and watched a dense 
smoke rising from the valley, as from the crater of a 
volcano. Suddenly they cried out, — 

“ The storm ! the storm ! Down from your horse, 
signor. Cover your head with your cloak, stay in the 
midst of us, and plant your stick fast in the ground.” 

I had scarcely dismounted, when the tornado, rushing 
from the deep caverns of the glens, burst upon us. 
With the violence of a water-spout, it uprooted trees, 
and swept down ice and snow, and torrents of water, 
with a crash and impetuosity that seemed to shake the 
mountains to their bases and hurtle them into the abyss. 

The deep darkness of night preceded the tempest. 
Claps of thunder reverberated through the hollows, 
havoc and ruin followed, earth quaked, avalanches 
rushed from every side, rocks were cleft, and their din 
clashed in wild chorus, as they rolled to the bottom of 
the mountain. This violent gust was deadened by a 


212 


LIONELLO. 


rampart of lofty rocks, against which it amassed pro- 
digious mounds of snow, trunks of trees, and blocks 
of ice. 

The storm merely brushed us in its passage ; but the 
wind was so powerful, the blast so fierce, the hail so 
precipitous, the snow so thick, and the cold so piercing, 
that it seemed impossible to catch my breath, even 
under the clothes with which I was enveloped. With 
our backs to the rock, we remained motionless. When 
the storm had passed, my guides resumed the path to 
the hut, which was not far distant. This is the last refuge 
before you reach the summit on which the Hospice of 
St. Bernard is erected. It stands on a kind of esplanade, 
surrounded by immense crests, which form a cavity like 
the pit depicted by Dante. There, in that solitude, 
that desert, where the hardiest shrubs never grow, nor 
the eagle wings his flight, — in the midst of eternal gla- 
ciers, which reflect a sombre light; amid caverns, and 
gorges, and chasms, where the snow is piled mountain 
high ; amid torrents, which, tumbling from rock to rock, 
are flung down into fathomless gulfs; amid arid and 
shaggy peaks and soaring clouds which dash against 
the very skies, menacing, and tumultuous with the 
clash of tempests, — man is annihilated in the sense of 
his inferiority, and of the presence of God! My im- 
piety was abased. I entered into communion with my- 
self, and comprehended my littleness, before this world 
of grandeur. 

The Spirit of God, solitary and omnipotent, in the 
midst of whirlwinds and tempests, seemed to pass be- 
fore my eyes, and hover over the abyss, when he pro- 
nounced the solemn words, “Let there be light!” I 
saw, in imagination, the earth issuing from the bosom 


THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 213 

of ocean, and, like a giant, spreading out its vast sides 
and towering shoulders, naked and unadorned, with 
streams of fire coursing through its veins. The green 
herbs had not yet mantled it with a brilliant sward, 
nor the waving forests bedecked its brow, nor the 
zephyrs' breath thrilled its heart. Man must ascend 
these lofty peaks, especially when the storm has spread 
ravages in its course, to conceive the sensations of feai 
and reverence which master the soul, in view of this 
surpassing majesty. 

At this solemn moment, faith was renewed in my 
heart, and the sentiment confirmed by an unexpected 
circumstance. We arrived at the hut exhausted by 
fatigue, and stiffened with the cold. My cloak was 
covered with snow. It had penetrated my neck, and 
filled my pockets. I was led to a large hearth and a 
blazing fire. Opposite to me was seated, on a bench, 
a tall traveller of noble aspect and distinguisl ,ed man- 
ners. His feet were bare, and a young girl of extraor- 
dinary beauty, enhanced by her graceful modesty, was 
rubbing them with pieces of cloth which she had heated 
at the fire. Her air and action manifested sentiments 
of the liveliest filial tenderness. 

The gentleman was a rich Hungarian noble, who, 
travelling from Italy to Geneva, determined to gratify 
his daughter, though the season was advanced, by 
visiting the celebrated Hospice of St. Bernard. 

Her piety toward the Blessed Virgin inspired the 
courageous and intrepid lady to go and venerate the 
Mother of God in the highest sanctuary dedicated to 
her on earth. 

They had set out an hour and a half before our de- 
parture, escaped the storm, braved snow-banks, glaciers, 


214 


LIONELLO. 


and numberless difficulties of the way. But the keen 
winds which preceded the gust renewed the pangs of 
Count Pietro, who was suffering from the gout ; and his 
amiable daughter, Sophia, was using every appliance to 
alleviate his pains. 

The mountaineers had with them only harsh, indif- 
ferent wine, rye bread, and cheese. The count did not 
relish this food. His health, indeed, forbade him to try 
this mountain-diet. I had in my pouch a flask of old 
Madeira, four oranges, and two cakes of chocolate. I 
hastened to rinse a small patent-leather cup, filled it 
with the wine, and presented it to the count. He found 
it excellent. I turned to his daughter and begged her 
to accept the oranges and a cup of Madeira. She took 
an orange, with exquisite grace, and, whilst she was 
peeling it, I drew out the chocolate,, and asked for a 
vessel or any kind of cup. 

Sophia smilingly said, “ Allow me to attend to that.” 
She extended her hand for the chocolate, broke it in 
pieces, had some water boiled, dropped the cake in it, 
and added a few twigs of the cornel-tree. I searched 
for some cups, and the young girl poured out the foam- 
ing beverage, which warmed us effectually. 

The count, like myself, was accompanied by four 
guides. Two of them, who had gone out to look at the 
sky, reported on their return that the weather had 
much* improved, and that the clouds were disappearing 
behind Entre-Mont. Sophia prepared her father for 
the journey, and three of the mountaineers placed him 
on his horse. I supported his foot and arranged the 
stirrups. I assisted Sophia to the saddle, wrapped her 
marten-boa carefully around her, mounted my own 
horse, and, with the entire party, pursued our way. 


THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 215 

We travelled on the top of the snow; but it was, hap- 
pily, crusted by the hail. We passed some hazardous 
spots, but, thanks to the cleverness of the mountaineers 
and the tools with which they had provided themselves 
at the refuge, we continued our journey in safety. Sud- 
denly our guides stopped. 

“Here we are,” they said, “'on the great rock of St. 
Bernard. You see the cross there far above the snow. 
The monks tell us that here was the temple of Jupiter 
Apenninus, built by the Romans, and destroyed by 
St. Bernard to plant the cross of Christ. Can the demon 
hurt us any more ? The Cross ! How beautiful it is ! 
It reigns over all our valleys, succors and protects 
every one who invokes its aid.” 

We soon perceived a monk with two men of hercu- 
lean frame, accompanied by two enormous dogs. One 
of the men asked our guides if any disaster had occurred 
during the tornado. These two Maroniers, as they are 
called, belonged to the hospice, and the two dogs were 
the most renowned of the breed. Their names were 
Drapeau and Bellona. 

They are of a light color, with heads like lions, and 
bodies as large as calves. With extraordinary intelli- 
gence, at the orders of the monks, they scent a man 
buried fathoms under the snow. They scratch and clear 
away the snow above the unfortunate travellers head; 
then they free his arms so that he can move his body. 
Each dog has a flask of old wine suspended from his 
neck, which has the virtue to warm the blood and re- 
animate the benumbed limbs. 

When the traveller is roused, he gets up and walks 
of himself. But if he is too weak, he has only to lean 
on the dogs back, and the animal drags him to the 


216 


LIONELLQ. 


path, where the maronier waits for his coming and 
extends the long pole to which he can cling. When 
the traveller is completely overpowered by the cold, 
the dog breathes on his face and licks it, seizes his arm 
with his mouth, shakes and tries to stir him. He 
whines around him with restless solicitude. Thus these 
friendly dogs save every year a large number of tra- 
vellers. The Swiss radicals, with their big words of 
philanthropy, have less humanity than these dogs. 
More cruel than hyenas, they drove these holy monks 
from their hospice, after the war of the Sonderbund, 
and have thus caused the death of hundreds of Catholics 
who had taken refuge in the mountains. 

Whilst we were talking with the monk and maro- 
niers, Drapeau uttered a quick, sharp bark, sprang for- 
ward rapidly, followed by Bellona, in the direction of 
an avalanche heaped on the edge of a precipice. The 
holy religious remarked, “ Some poor people are buried 
there under the snow.” He and the maroniers hastened 
at once to the spot. We followed them at some dis- 
tance, and watched the manoeuvres of the dogs. They 
beat eagerly about the place, smelt, wagged their tails, 
thrust their muzzles into the snow, began to scratch 
and dash it aside until they reached the earth. Then 
they yelped with a cry of mingled delight and pity. 
They shook the body of an unfortunate man lying 
beneath, and tried to revive him with their breath. 
One of the maroniers ventured to descend into the 
cavity and help them. 

A sad spectacle was presented to our sight. A young 
man of stalwart frame had lain there for more than two 
hours. He held closely in his arms a young girl nine 
or ten years old, and seemingly ready to expire, press- 


THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 217 

ing his face to hers, and mouth to mouth. The dogs 
licked her face. The maronier lifted her from the 
grasp of the young man, rubbed her face with a hand- 
ful of snow, until the little sufferer opened her eyes 
and showed returning color in her cheeks. He gave 
her mouthfuls of Cyprus wine, and continued the friction 
on her hands and feet. The young man emptied the 
flask hanging on the neck of Bellona, and recovered his 
strength. The monk, impatient about the result, went 
down to their side, took the little girl from the arms of 
the maronier, whilst the latter helped the young man to 
climb out of the snow-bank. Sophia shed tears of 
emotion. When the monk had clambered to the top, 
she begged him to give her the little girl. She placed 
her on her horse, wrapped her in her cloak of ermine- 
bordered velvet, pressed her to her bosom, and lavished 
most affectionate cares on the child to recall animation. 
I got off my horse, put the young man in the saddle, 
and, with the guides, walked to the summit of the 
acclivity. 

We now stood on the plateau, surrounded by jagged 
rocks and formidable crags, ten thousand three hun- 
dred and twenty-seven feet above the level of the sea, 
in the midst of fogs which rise from immense depths 
and eternal glaciers. 

A frozen lake, transparent as crystal, extends over a 
part of the plateau. Midway in this lake, the rude 
tower of the hospice lifts itself, as if by enchantment, 
to the height of seven thousand five hundred and forty- 
eight feet above the level of the sea, flanked by enor- 
mous rocks which shield it from the violence of the 
tempests. It is the highest habitation on the face of 
the globe; and no motive less divine than Christian 

19 


218 


LIONELLO. 


charity could induce men of erudition, refined feelings, 
and polished manners, to dwell on these lofty peaks, 
sacrifice all the comforts of life, and consecrate them- 
selves as holocausts to God in the service of their 
brethren. 

When we reached the hospice, the dogs came out, as 
if to bid us welcome. Father Cart, the procurator or 
hospitaller, followed closely in their track, and helped 
Count Pietro from the saddle. 

Meanwhile, I took the little girl from the arms of 
Sophia, and gave her in charge to a female who stood by. 
I then aided the young lady to dismount. Other per- 
sons supported the young man and bore him to the 
stove. 

He was a linen-weaver, and a native of Biella. Ap- 
prized of his mother’s death, and uneasy about his 
young, unprotected sister, he came to carry her into 
France and put her under the care of some religious 
ladies. He had arrived without accident at the Eefuge, 
and was walking on the snow, when it suddenly gave 
way under his feet and plunged him to a great depth, 
with his sister, whom he was carrying in his arms. 

Father Cart inquired of Count Pietro if he or his 
daughter desired a hot bath ; but, as the fire was burn- 
ing brightly, they declined the proffer. The courteous 
canon then ordered for us a bowl of tea, with a modi- 
cum of rum. This beverage restored us entirely. 
Hardly had the good Sophia recovered her strength 
and color than she requested the Father hospitaller to 
show her the way to the church and the Madonna. He 
told her that they adjoined our present sitting-room ; 
and this angelic creature went to throw herself on her 
knees before the altar. There, with bowed head, 


THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 219 

clasped hands, and an air of profound recollection, she 
spent a long time in fervent prayer. 

0 daughter of faith, devoted to thy God, couldst 
thou spare no love for Lionello, and thus snatch him 
from hell ? I was so captivated by her virtues and 
personal attractions, that, a few days afterward, I sought 
her hand of the count, and would perhaps have obtained 
it, had she not been, for a year past, the affianced bride 
of a young nobleman of Buda. Sophia and Fanny were 
the only women who might have saved me. But I was 
not worthy of them. Fanny was a lady of Luxemburg, 
who lost her husband a few years since. Flemish piety 
and ingenuousness added new charms to her beauty. 
Bich, noble, highly intellectual, mistress of several 
languages, and a superior musician, she possessed 
exquisite sensibilities, and, as I have reason to believe, 
returned my affection with ardor. She had a son, a 
charming little boy, who won the heart of every one 
that approached him. When I first proposed to Fanny, 
she manifested great astonishment. She soon regained 
her composure, and said to me, as she pointed to her 
little Henry, — 

“ Lionello, do you see that pledge of my first love ? 
Look at him, and tell me' if it be possible for a mother 
to abandon her child.” 

1 assured her that I would cherish him with the love 
of a fond father. 

“No,” she answered. “None but my Otho could 
love him. God bereaved my son of his father, that in 
me he might find the love of both his parents. None 
but a mother can give this double love.” 

“ But you are yet young : why should you doom 
yourself to a life of loneliness and unmitigated sorrow?” 


220 


LIONELLO. 


“Count, years are fleeting away; but tbe joys of a 
second engagement would be far more bitter to me than 
my present grief.” 

I left that city a prey to deep melancholy. I wrote 
to her several times from Amsterdam, Aix, and Angers ; 
but I received no answer. It seems to me that Sophia 
and Fanny were the only women capable of checking 
my passions, reclaiming me from my wanderings, re- 
conciling me to virtue, and restoring the peace of mind 
to which I had long been a stranger. 

Sophia, after having prayed before the Madonna, 
arose, and, approaching her father, said, with a serene 
and smiling countenance, “ I have been praying for you 
too, and thanking our blessed Mother for rescuing us 
from so many dangers.” The repast was soon ready. 
We could scarcely have expected in that dreary spot 
the elegances which charity and politeness spread before 
us. Nothing was wanting : the whitest linen, rich 
plate, delicious viands. Father Cart sat near us, and 
answered our many questions in regard to the number 
of travellers whom he had saved, and to the monks who, 
during the winter, dwelt in that icy temperature. He 
told me that in the space of a year they often saved 
more than a hundred persons from certain death, and he 
gave us some incidents of an exceedingly tragic nature. 

The Religious had a house at Martigny, whither 
they repaired when the inclement season set in. Never- 
theless, the monks of a stronger constitution remained 
at the monastery and chanted their psalmody in the 
midst of the tempest. Here were cells, each furnished 
with a bed, for one thousand strangers. And they 
could be supplied with food for several days. 

The reverend hospitaller showed me a fine museum 


THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 


221 


of natural history, containing wild goats, bucks, roes, 
chamois, marmots, badgers, dormice, — all the animals 
which frequent the Alpine precipices and live in the 
hollows of the rocks. In this collection we found, too, 
mountain birds, white partridges, francolins, pheasants, 
glacier- cocks, and a bird of light-gray plumage spotted 
with red, (Linnseus' snow-finch,) which is found in the 
frozen solitudes of Mont Blanc and St. Bernard. Here, 
also, Father Cart had deposited several bronze tables, 
disinterred near the ancient Boman temple. They are 
dedicated to Jupiter Apenninus, to insure a prosperous 
journey, or deliverance from the storm and the ava- 
lanche. 

“ This,” said Father Cart, “ was the work of idolaters ; 
and now-a-days there are Christians who pass by this 
place, not to thank, but to blaspheme, God!” And I 
shudder to add that Swiss, born of Catholic parents, 
joined the radicals after the Sonderbund war, perse- 
cuted these monks, the heroes of charity, massacred, 
pillaged, barbarously banished them.* 


* In March, 1852, the radicals of the Valais ordered all their pro- 
perty to be put under the hammer. For nearly a thousand years 
the Hospice of St. Bernard has been the admiration of the world. 
Princes and people have evinced their gratitude in its regard. Year 
after year, it extends its bounty to thousands of travellers, of all 
conditions, ranks, nations, of all religions, Catholic, Protestant, 
Jewish, Turkish, and Pagan; for the impious men who have abjured 
Christ are worse than these last. All are welcomed with the same 
Christian charity. They are lifted up, if they fall ; extricated, if 
they are buried under the snow ; if they are benumbed by the cold, 
they are transported to the monastery; if they are exhausted by 
hunger and suffering, the monks dispense nourishment and remedies, 
and thus restore them to life. It is no longer a religious question. 
The spoliation of the Hospice of St. Bernard is not only a sacrilegious 
robbery of the Church, it is a merciless crime against humanity. It 


222 


LIONELLO. 


On the following day we rose early. Sophia had 
gone to confession to one of the monks, and on her 
return to the hall she said to me, with a bright and 
open countenance, “Lionello, I’m going to hear mass, 
and receive communion for papa, who is still in bed. 
You have a mother : will you go to communion with 
me?” 

A cold tremor ran through my veins at this unex- 
pected question. 

“ Lady, I am not worthy to go.” 

Poor Sophia blushed, and, looking at me with tearful 
eyes, continued, “Lionello, I will pray also for you and 
your mother.” 

I have not a doubt that she saw the impiety of my 
heart glaring from my eyes. 


is an assassination of travellers of all nations. France, Russia, 
Austria, what do you think of this iniquity? What measures do you 
take to redress these wrongs ? Will you permit the barbarities of 
these enemies of society to pass unpunished ? Remember that the 
majority of travellers who cross these snow-clad mountains are 
French and German. Will you allow these wolves of Swiss radi- 
calism to devour so many citizens, to rob commerce and art of so 
many votaries ? 

O Italy, misled by wild and pernicious fancies, behold the cha- 
racter of that felicity at which thou aimest, under the government 
of these regenerators ! Think of thy hospitals, orphan-asylums, 
houses of refuge, homes of the young, unprotected, aged, and sorrow- 
ful, all the institutions of charity which have been bequeathed to 
thee by ancestral munificence, the gifts especially of mediaeval com- 
munes and republics. These new republicans, godless and unbe- 
lieving, plunder thee of all thy treasures,— the altars of the Lord, the 
support of the parentless, the shelter of the old and the wayworn. 
The sick will be flung into the street ; mothers will be left resource- 
less ; the unhappy victims of their passions will abandon their chil- 
dren, for whom they can no longer find a refuge. 0 my country, 
if thou art determined to be cruel, exercise not thy cruelty against 


MASONRY. 


223 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

MASONRY. 

After dinner, when Sophia returned to the church 
to pray before the Virgin, Count Pietro requested me 
to accompany him to the Morgue. We went to the 
windows, and through the iron bars we saw, standing 
upright against the walls, the corpses of those who 
during the year had been found dead under the snow. 
They are there exposed to the view of travellers, that, 
if possible, they may be recognised by their friends. 
The air of this region is so pure and rare, the cold so 
intense, that the entrails and blood are desiccated, and 
the bodies retain their physiognomy and shape so per- 
fectly, that we can easily identify them after death, 
though we may not have seen them often during life. 

After viewing the mournful spectacle for a while, the 
count began to suffer from the severe cold, and pro- 
posed to return to the fire. Here we noticed a large 
stone, which records in a long description the passage 
of Napoleon over the Alps, and the prowess of Dessaix. 
The gallant general marched the army across the 
mountain, died gloriously on the plains of Marengo, 
and found a worthy tomb in the monastic church of 
St. Bernard. This passage of history led us to speak 

thy own children. I ask thee not to avenge the wrongs of priests 
and religion, hut to keep for the hand of misery the bread of which 
these monsters would rob it. The rapine which the Turin constitu- 
tionalists have perpetrated at St. Bernard and St. Paul manifests 
the ravenous hunger of these tyrants. Let them strip thee of thy 
goods ; like vampires, they will suck the last drop of thy blood. 


224 


LIONELLO. 


of Napoleon; and the count expressed his opinions of 
that wonderful man’s genius, intrepidity, and daring, 
which no obstacle could disconcert. 

Our desultory conversation introduced a topic which, 
to me, was exceedingly interesting. 

“ It is a marvellous thing,” said the count, “that this 
great man, who was able to subdue the French nation, 
vanquish numberless armies, subvert so many thrones, 
and subject to his sceptre a large portion of Europe, 
never succeeded in conquering Masonry. Though he 
owed to its instrumentality his elevation to the empire, 
he wished to make it the slave of his will. What was 
the result ? It cast him, like another Prometheus, to 
pine on a storm-beaten rock. Lionello, be assured that 
the man who puts himself in the power of secret socie- 
ties will sooner or later be the victim of their malice. 
You are young; you are going to France, and there you 
will be exposed to a thousand powerful temptations. Be 
on your guard. I had a son in whom I once reposed my 
fondest hopes. Now he is the cause of abiding sorrow, 
mortal disquietudes, overflowing tears. He thought- 
lessly fell into the snares of Masonry, and was impli- 
cated in secret conspiracies. But, thanks be to God, I 
saved him, after countless sacrifices and dangers. I am 
now on my way to see him at Geneva, where, exiled 
and unknown, he spends his days, in the fulness of re- 
pentance and remorse.” 

My conscience smote me with reproaches, as I listened 
to these words of the noble Hungarian, and thought of 
my own good mother. To escape these poignant re- 
flections, I busied myself in replacing the pieces of 
burning wood which had fallen on the hearth. Then, 
turning to the count, I said, as if casually, — 


MASONRY. 


225 


“ Still, I have heard persons maintain that Masonry 
is a harmless institution ; that it is guiltless of the im- 
piety of the Rosicrucians, Scotists, Illuminati ; that it 
is a kind of reunion of learned men, distinguished by 
their talents and benevolence, whose only aim is the 
welfare of their fellow-men, by the diffusion of science, 
the improvement of philanthropic instruction, the 
advancement of commerce, industry, agriculture, and 
every art beneficial to humanity.” 

“ The man who told you that, my dear friend, mani- 
fested his exceeding ignorance or his shameless disre- 
gard of truth. You are an Italian, born of a noble 
race, reared in the bosom of the Catholic Church. Do 
you believe that, if this were its true character, the 
Church, in her wisdom and justice, would have stricken 
it with so many anathemas? Catholics are forbidden, 
under pain of excommunication, to become members of 
this association. The Church, enlightened from above, 
is able to discriminate between right and wrong; to 
point out the paths which lead to heaven and hell ; to 
certify the work of Cod, and the stratagems of the 
devil.” 

“But tell me, Count Pietro, how does it happen 
that Free Masons proclaim themselves heirs of the 
chivalric religion of the Templars, and that, as guard- 
ians and re-establishers of the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre at Jerusalem, they have adopted the em- 
blems of masonry ? In their lodges you find pictures re- 
presenting trowels, polishers, levels, hammers, winches, 
crowbars, and aprons.” 

“ It is true that they falsely proclaim their descent 
from the Knights Templar; but they know very well 
their unworthy origin. By these tales they throw dust 


226 


LIONELLO. 


into the eyes of the people, when they talk pompously, 
sometimes of the Temple of Solomon, sometimes of the 
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. But, in fact, the Free 
Masons are only a corruption of an institution ennobled 
by Christian charity. They are a base, miserable imita- 
tion of the original, as fruitful, eventually, in evil, as 
the guilds which they mimic were in good." 

“If they are not successors of the Templars, to what 
do you ascribe their power and diffusion ? They exist 
in Europe, beyond the seas in North and South 
America, in the lately-discovered islands of Tahiti, 
Sandwich, and Australia. Effects like these must 
spring from a great, potent, superhuman cause.” 

“ The cause, my dear Lionello, is neither great nor 
superhuman. Do you wish to know it? It is the 
rage and envy of Satan against the Church ; it is his 
implacable hatred, which seeks to vitiate, destroy, 
counterfeit, divine institutions by deeds of iniquity.” 

“The demon, then, studies to ape the Church?” 

“Certainly; and it is an artifice as old as the world. 
He opposes altar to altar, sacrifice to sacrifice, sacra- 
ments to sacraments, rites to rites, the oblation of Cain 
to that of Abel, the baptism of the Carbonari to the 
baptism of Jesus Christ.” 

“But to what Christian institution is Masonry 
opposed?” 

“I will tell you: I will show you the authentic 
origin of Free Masons. You no doubt recollect that, 
about the twelfth century, the Western nations, in their 
desire to wrest the sepulchre of Christ from the hands 
of the infidels, originated the wars which we call the 
Crusades. Peter the Hermit led the first. Godfrey 
de Bouillon conquered Jerusalem, and was proclaimed 


MASONRY. 


227 


King of the Holy City. By degrees, all the kings, 
princes, and Christian lords of Europe enrolled them- 
selves under the standard of the Cross, from Frederick 
II., Emperor of Germany, to St. Louis, King of France. 
For the space of two centuries they nobly combated the 
Saracens. 

“ The kingdom of France had been frequently in- 
vaded, pillaged, devastated, and burned by Moors, who 
made hostile irruptions from Africa and Spain. The 
northern provinces had been desolated by incursions of 
the Normans, who ravaged the country with fire and 
sword. Magnificent abbeys and cathedrals reared by 
the pious munificence of the Merovingian and Carlovin- 
gian kings, had been attacked by bands of marauders, 
plundered, and, in most instances, set on fire and de- 
stroyed. A vast number of villages were sacked, the 
ramparts of strongholds levelled, wooden bridges cast 
burning into the streams and their stone arches demo- 
lished. The Hungarians, at divers times, invaded 
Bavaria, Burgundy, and Italy. They swept through 
these countries in a deluge of fire, burning, consuming, 
reducing to dust, the harvests and forests ; leaving in 
their passage signs of horror and desolation. Ger- 
many, on the other side of the Bhine, was laid waste 
by the Prussians; Bohemia and Moravia, by the 
Tartars and Sclavonic tribes ; the shores of the Baltic, 
by the Swedes and Thuringians; Flanders, by the 
Frisons. But England, enriched under its Saxon 
kings with abbeys, cathedrals, and hospitals, was the 
greatest sufferer, from the havoc made by the Danes. 
These barbarians strewed the soil with ruins, and 
made the country a desert. 

“ You observe, Lionello, that during the eleventh 


228 


LIONELLO. 


and the twelfth century, the Mussulmen and Northern 
tribes had flung back into barbarism the nations of 
Europe. Churches, monasteries, fortified cities, were 
devastated. The inhabitants resumed the manners of 
forest savages. Every city, and castle, and territory 
was insulated, like islands in the sea, as all intercom- 
munication was cut off. Roads, bridges, barks, means 
of transportation, richly-endowed hospitals, monasteries 
whose doors were ever open to the wayfarer, had dis- 
appeared. The eye beheld, on every side, thickets, 
swamps, pools, fallow and waste lands, so that in 
many places neither man nor horse could pierce a way. 
God had pity on society. He raised up high-minded 
men, endowed with eminent wisdom and sanctity. 
They established, according to the rules of St. Bene- 
dict, new monastic congregations, which gradually soft- 
ened the manners and dispelled the ignorance of the 
people. France was gloriously resplendent with the 
lustre of the orders of Citeaux, Cluny, and Chartreuse, 
under the government of St. Bernard, St. Odo, and St. 
Bruno. Germany was blessed with the order of Pre- 
monstratensians, founded by St. Norbert, Archbishop of 
Magdeburg; England, with the monasteries of St. 
Alban, St. Dunstan, St. Columbanus, restored by 
Lanfranc and Anselm, Archbishops of Canterbury. 
Italy ranked among her many benefactors St. John 
Gualbert and St. Romuald, founders of Vallombrosa 
and Camaldoli, who with heroic courage combated the 
abuses of the epoch. In fine, at the close of the twelfth 
century the two great luminaries of the world appeared, 
— St. Francis of Assisium, and St. Dominic. Their 
orders dissipated the darkness of barbarism which had 
settled on Christendom. At this period the orders of 


MASONRY. 


229 


chivalry, especially of the Knights Hospitallers and 
the Knights Templars, were formed, to civilize and rule 
the boorish and rugged nations. They introduced the 
polished and elegant manners of the East, and con- 
tributed powerfully to the progress of European refine- 
ment. The Church, whose maternal heart is ever full 
of tenderness and solicitude for her children, studied 
to provide for their wants in the West, as she had 
striven by the Crusades to promote their interests in 
the Levant. In those ages of faith, the desire of 
Christians to draw holy indulgences from her treasury 
prompted them to undertake journeys to Palestine. 
The Church availed herself of this popular movement, 
and gave it a more advantageous direction. It was 
deemed inadvisable to exhaust the fountains of European 
wisdom and strength in behalf of Eastern nations, to 
bereave France, Burgundy, England, and the Germanic 
empire of their defenders, guardians, and counsellors. 
Hence the same spiritual favors were dispensed to 
Catholics who devoted themselves to the service of the 
Church and the exercise of works of charity. 

“ Among these works was reckoned the gift of books 
to monastic and cathedral libraries; for the barbarians 
had in their irruptions pillaged the abbeys, collegiate, 
pastoral, and episcopal residences, and destroyed the 
treasures of sacred and profane science, — even the rituals, 
antiphonaries, charters, archives, chronicles, and his- 
tories. Those savage warriors used the books which 
they seized to light a fire or adorn their saddles ; with 
rolls of vellum they covered their bucklers, hauberks, 
and breastplates. They made horse-litters of the 
manuscripts, as they did with the Republic of Cicero, 
or kindled beacons with them. Consequently a book 
20 


230 


LIONELLO. 


was a precious offering to the Church; and it is to this 
ingenious charity of the Popes that we are indebted for 
the preservation of the master-works of Greek and 
Latin literature, rescued with the writings of the holy 
fathers from the universal deluge of barbarism. 

“The Church watched with equal interest over the 
rebuilding of hospitals, monasteries, and temples of the 
Almighty. The indulgence granted to the Crusaders 
was extended to all contributors who, by money or 
labor, founded or restored edifices of public utility. 
Thus many of the counts and barons, disabled by age 
or infirmity from joining the Crusaders, desired to share 
their merits; thus many high-born ladies, rich and 
powerful castellans, were animated with the same spirit, 
and generously promoted the accomplishment of these 
noble projects. 

“To this principle, France, England, Germany, Italy, 
and the entire West, after the year 1000, owed those 
majestic monuments which are the objects of our 
admiration; monuments which modern times, notwith- 
standing the progress of arts and sciences, have been 
unable to surpass or even approach in their poor imita- 
tions. It was a beautiful spectacle to see these mar- 
graves, landgraves, counts, barons, lords of castles, pre- 
senting themselves to the bishops and abbots, and 
zealously co-operating with them in the restoration of 
the abbeys, priories, and churches of their dioceses; 
not only offering their treasures, but lending their 
horses, mules, wagons, for the good work, allowing 
them the use of their lands, quarries, and forests. 

“But the Church knows the value of organization, by 
rule, order, and harmony. She is the head which 
directs the members to a common end. The bishops 


MASONRY. 


231 


and abbots divided these zealous Catholics into orders 
and classes, appointed managers under the control of 
a chief who was to govern the entire body. This is 
the origin in France, and afterward in England and 
Germany, of the religious guilds of Masons. The 
members consecrated themselves to the erection of 
churches, monasteries, priories, chantries, collegiate 
churches, pastoral residences, hospitals for the sick, 
inns for travellers, asylums for lepers, bridges for 
streams and rivers. 

“ The head of these confraternities was styled Grand 
Master of the Masons; the subordinate chiefs, masters ; 
the ordinary workmen, masons ; the others, apprentices 
or the initiated. Around the church were built tem- 
porary huts or shelters for the workmen. These were 
called lodges. 

“The members of these communities saluted one 
another by the Christian name of brethren. To gain 
admission and the indulgence attached to the guilds, it 
was necessary to go to confession and communion, 
swear obedience to the grand master, and execute the 
work allotted by the director of the lodge, but, above 
all, to forgive ones enemies and be reconciled with 
them. This last condition was essential in those war- 
like times, when villages and communes were engaged 
in continual conflicts with their neighbors, under the 
influence of those barbarous manners which perpetuated 
feuds, hatreds, and bloody retaliations. 

“According to the most reliable histories, we can 
trace the origin of these confraternities to Chartres, at 
the beginning of the twelfth century, when the cathe- 
dral of that city was constructed. From Chartres 
they spread into Normandy and the rest of France. 


232 


LIONELLO. 


Thence they passed into England, Scotland, and par- 
ticularly Flanders and Germany. 

“ It was a spectacle worthy of those heroic ages of 
faith which had succeeded the dismal period of bar- 
barism to see noble and puissant barons approach the 
bishop with humble and reverential air, and ask his 
blessing ; then offer their aid to the grand master, who 
admitted them as associates, and sent them to the 
masters to discharge assigned functions. It was an 
admirable spectacle to behold haughty marchionesses, 
and the daughters of landgraves, barons, counts, and 
even kings, earnestly soliciting the lowly and laborious 
condition of female masons, and congratulating them- 
selves on their enrolment as sodalists. 

“ When it was announced that a cathedral or monastic 
church was to be erected, or a bridge to be thrown over 
a river, masons and apprentices, in numerous bands, 
preceded by priests carrying the cross, were seen con- 
verging to the appointed place from the neighboring 
dwellings. They presented themselves to the masters, 
and repaired to their respective lodges to wait for 
orders. And now they began operations. They built 
the walls, dressed the stone, hewed the timbers, formed 
the arch-frames, laid the floors, mortised the girders 
and joists, raised the parapets. One slaked the 
lime and made the mortar, another sifted the gravel; 
one brought brush- wood and fagots for the furnaces, 
another kneaded the clay or moulded tiles and bricks. 
Noble matrons and young ladies of wealth and station 
carried stone and wood upon their shoulders; they 
bore vessels of lime and sand ; they drew water at the 
moats and rivers; and sometimes they were so numerous 


MASONRY. 233 

as to form an unbroken chain and pass the water from 
the stream to the scene of labor. 

“ The workmen, in the midst of these toils, maintained 
silence and recollection, demonstrative of the faith and 
religion which animated their souls. They chanted at 
their work sacred hymns and canticles, in honor of 
Mary, the virgin Mother of God. They fasted on the 
eves of the great solemnities; and the priests urged 
them to offer to God their pains, fatigues, and all dis- 
comforts, under a burning sun, cold, rain, and not un- 
frequently with unwholesome food. If any dispute arose 
among them, the priests and the masters settled the 
difficulty, and those very men wont to tyrannize over 
their vassals bowed their heads cheerfully to the yoke 
of obedience. 

“ When I read, my dear Lionello, the history of that 
Masonic institution, I feel myself transported with ad- 
miration in view of that power of Catholic faith and 
divine charity which originated and sustained it. I 
have met with a letter of Aymon, Abbot of St. Peter of 
Dives, in Normandy, which he wrote in England a.d. 
1145, to the monks of the Abbey of Jutteburg. He 
gives them an account of the wonders wrought by this 
confraternity in the erection of St. Peter s Church. 1 You 
might see,' says the abbot, ‘the most powerful nobles, and 
ladies of eminent rank, engaged heartily in this chari- 
table work. Unmindful of their distinguished birth, 
the authority of their state, the delicacy of their nurture, 
and the charms of their princely homes, they harnessed 
themselves to carts and transported to the building 
wood, stone, sand, and other materials. Aft&r the hard 
labors of the day, they watched a good portion of the 
20 * 


234 


LIONELLO. 


night, placing lighted torches in their vehicles, and 
chanting hymns and pious canticles.’ 

“ He then relates the origin of the Masonic fra- 
ternities at the construction of the Chartres Cathedral, 
and their subsequent extension over all Normandy. 
The Abbot of Dives here ends his interesting narrative. 
But you may find the most interesting details of their 
operations in the history of the archbishops of Rouen, 
the annals of the order of St. Benedict, and the conti- 
nuation of Sigebert by Robert Dumont. Spondanus, 
in the History of Geneva, gives a manuscript of 1213 
which chronicles the institution of a Masonic corpora- 
tion to build the great Cathedral of St. Peter. This 
noble structure was respected by the Calvinists, but 
sacrilegiously destroyed by modern Masons. Nowhere 
were these associations more wisely organized than at 
Strasbourg, a.d. 1450, under the architect Dotzinger. 
From certain indications, however, I suspect that even 
at this epoch, innovations began to affect the primitive 
purity of the institution. 

“ Mediaeval faith and piety, as you clearly see, my 
dear Lionello, gave birth to the Masonic lodges, under 
the inspiration of the Church, which won the co-opera- 
tion of the faithful by the promise of indulgences 
granted to the Crusaders. The splendid results of this 
enterprise are seen in the cathedrals of Chartres, 
Bourges, Cologne, Mayence, Strasbourg, Westminster; 
in every part of France, England, Scotland, Germany, 
and Switzerland. The Italian communes and republics 
contributed most to these admirable structures in their 
own country, aided, however, in an eminent degree by 
the confraternities. At the sight of this happiness 
which had changed the desert into a paradise and 


MASONRY. 


235 


adorned the wild, uncultivated, desolate lands of Europe 
with costly monuments, vocal night and day with hymns 
to the glory of God, hell was devoured with rage and 
despair, and swore to arrest the progress of these sacred 
fabrics which sprang up on every side. It summoned 
from the East and poured into France, and afterward 
into other countries, nefarious cohorts of the Catari, 
Bulgarians, W aldenses, Paterini, and Manicheans. These 
enemies of religion and civilization infused the poison 
of their impiety and heresies into the bosom of Chris- 
tendom, — sowed the cockle of Satan in the field of Jesus 
Christ. They insinuated themselves into Catholic so- 
ciety under the garb of hypocrisy. They sought to 
cajole the most ignorant and ductile people. They main- 
tained that the worship of God required simplicity, that 
man himself was the only temple of the Lord, and that 
to the restoration and aggrandizement of this temple 
we should devote. all our energies. They excited envy 
at the magnificence of cathedrals and abbeys, dispa- 
raged the pious confraternities of the Masons. Then, 
under pretext of subverting the ramparts of tyranny, 
they stirred up the populace against the castles and 
towers which served as a defence against invasion. In 
less than fifteen days, they, in Picardy, Artois, and Brie, 
overthrew and demolished, with catapults and battering- 
rams, more than one hundred castles. Kings, princes, 
dukes, marched against these infernal legions, and, on 
their ruins, France, England, and Germany breathed 
more freely. They were not, however, annihilated. 
Mistrustful of an appeal to arms, which had betrayed 
their designs, they recurred to artifice. Their chiefs, 
inspired with the malice of Satan, hypocritically veiled 
their iniquity under the externals of religion. In their 


236 


LIONELLO. 


gloomy retreats, like the serpent in its covert, reple- 
nishing its fangs with poison, they matured the project 
of imitating the Masonic lodges. They accordingly en- 
tered those confraternities, corrupted the faith of their 
members, and perverted the original institution. Hence- 
forth there was neither peace nor truce. They began 
to tamper with the most numerous and reputable bodies, 
and, as the reward of their pretended zeal, they soon 
formed a powerful and terrible sect. 

“The devil, as we have already said, ever apes the 
institutions, rites, and practices of the Church. His 
abettors established new fraternities and assumed the 
name of Free Masons , as if emancipated from the ancient 
lodges and masters. The simple and ignorant were 
quite unaware of any change, because they had retained 
in their vocabulary the names of lodges, grand masters , 
masters, apprentices, brethren, $c. They devised sig- 
nals, secret emblems of the trowel, level, square, hoe, 
and other tools of masons. They adopted a cabalistic 
language to distinguish the members of the secret so- 
ciety from those of the old Christian lodges. Exte- 
riorly, their system conformed to the law of God and 
the dictates of natural probity. The knaves studied in- 
deed to mimic the chivalric grace, decorum, and court- 
esy which obtained in the seigneurial courts, the tour- 
naments and jousts, so that the title of Free Mason was 
held as a recommendation in the bowers of ladies and 
the society of gallant knights. The masters were care- 
ful to stimulate ambition. They promised their asso- 
ciates rapid preferment, fiefs, castellanies, the right of 
gathering tolls, assessing merchandise, horses and lands. 
By this lure they attracted to their lodges both lords 
and vassals. 


MASONRY. 


237 

“When these worthy descendants of the Catari, Mani- 
cheans, and the impure race of the ancient Gnostics, 
saw themselves sufficiently numerous to act on the 
aggressive, they began to impugn the statutes of bi- 
shops and the lay-lords, to excite the strong-handed to 
appropriate the rights of the Church, the privileges of 
the clergy, the property of abbeys and priories. They 
urged them to levy imposts on their lands, pasturages, 
hunting-grounds, and fisheries, to divert the streams 
from their mills, and set a poll-tax on the serfs and 
liege-men of prebends, canonries, chantries, and chapels. 
By this policy they robbed the Church and her minis- 
ters of the lawful reverence of the faithful, and thus 
introduced the heresies of the Free Masons. In a brief 
while they openly indulged their rancor against Jesus 
Christ and His spouse, against her sacraments, laws, 
discipline, and institutions. They concealed the spirit 
of rank paganism under the mask of Christianity. To 
emancipate themselves from all authority, divine and 
human, and abandon themselves to sensuality and covet- 
ousness, they imbued the popular mind with hatred 
and pernicious rage against a divinely constituted 
hierarchy. 

“Hence the rapine and burning of churches, monas- 
teries, religious edifices; hence the ravages and mas- 
sacres perpetrated by the Albigenses and Paterini, in 
Limousin, Provence, and throughout the West. Tfie 
man who ponders these historical facts cannot fail to 
trace in them the spirit and impulse of secret societies. 
Their chiefs, checked for a while by the Crusades, lay 
concealed in their Masonic lodges till a favorable oppor- 
tunity enabled them to pursue openly their wicked 
schemes. As faithful guardians, they transmitted from 


238 


LIONELLO. 


master to master their baleful doctrines, to the fifteenth 
century. In 1459, under the favor and protection of 
the emperors, they reproduced these doctrines in a pub- 
lic assembly at Ratisbon. These monarchs, regarding 
Masonry as the simple revival of the religious confra- 
ternities of the eleventh century, endowed it with such 
eminent privileges and decreed it so many honors that 
the Duke of Milan sent for German architects to pre- 
side at the erection of his celebrated cathedral/ 

“At this epoch Masonry began to present a new 
phase. The order of the Templars, fallen from its pri- 
mitive integrity, under Philip the Fair, had been sup- 
pressed by Pope Clement V. The knights who had es- 
caped the wrath of the King of France, fled in 1307 to 
Mull, in Scotland, and, in 1314, the Royal Bruce affili- 
ated them to the society of Free Masons. He reserved 
to himself the hereditary right to the grandmastership 
of the venerable lodge of Hierodam, at Edinburgh. The 
Templars embraced the perverse doctrines with which 
this institution was infected. They superadded their 
peculiar errors, which they had borrowed in the Le- 
vant from secret societies of the Greek, Syrian, and 
Judean heretics. It was a compound of Gnostic abomi- 
nations, Persian rites, and Indian Buddhism, — foul and 
infamous mysteries, practised by these sacrilegious 
knights. 

“They remodelled their secret discipline, laws, and 
statutes, formed signs and tokens for mutual recogni- 
tion, professed openly the art of building sacred edifices, 
but privately planned a system to combat and destroy 
every holy and legitimate principle among men. They 
swore an unappeasable hatred against Jesus Christ and 
His Church. They swore, too, an eternal war against 


MASONRY. 


239 


the authority of monarchs, who, blinded by their flat- 
teries, beheld in these hypocrites only the champions 
of novel rights hostile to the Church and favorable to 
the crown, and warmed in their bosoms their deadliest 
enemies.* 

“By the inscrutable providence of God, Luther, at 
the end of the fifteenth century, arose and stirred a 
large portion of Germany into revolt against the Koman 
pontiff. Henry VIII., at the same time, alienated Eng- 
land; Knox, Scotland; Calvin, Switzerland, Holland, 
and a part of France. The Free Masons, from their 
dark lairs, began to breathe into the people a spirit of 
havoc against the superb monuments of Catholic piety. 
Where is the heart so cold and impious as not to shud- 
der at the recital of the ravages, devastation, destruc- 
tion of minsters, monasteries, treasures of painting and 
statuary wrought by the most eminent artists of the 
West? England, Scotland, and Germany, indebted for 
their civilization, sciences, and arts to the maternal so- 
licitude of the Church and the co-operation of her 
priests, witnessed in a few years the destruction of the 


* They were so far from being Christians that they did not even 
look upon themselves as such. Read the following words of a manu- 
script written by the Free Masons of Cologne, 24th June, 1535. It 
was found in the archives of the Masonic lodge of Aia, copied by his 
R. II. Prince William Frederick Charles, Grand Master of the lodges 
of the Netherlands, and distributed, in 1818, to all the lodges of the 
kingdom. “Although in the dispensation of charities we make no 
exception on account of religion or country, nevertheless, we admit 
into our order only those who, in the society of the profane , are called 
Christians .” Mention also is there made of a secret patriarch, to be 
chosen by the chiefs of the order, known only by these chiefs , and re- 
garded as the visible and invisible head of this association. They swear 
to acknowledge no other superior but him, even in the Church of 
Jesus Christ. — Eckert, Ilis. de la Franc-Maqonnerie. Paris. 


240 


LIONELLO. 


glories of centuries and the wide-spread ruins of their 
noblest fabrics. Protestants, themselves, at the present- 
day, deplore this unbridled barbarism and vandal policy. 
They acknowledge 1 that a powerful secret society had 
kindled the flames to destroy these sublime monu- 
ments.’ It is an indisputable fact that those provinces 
which were estranged from the Catholic Church, but 
uncontrolled by Masonic lodges, preserved their reli- 
gious edifices intact. Such was the case with the Can- 
tons of Geneva and Vaud, and other par t^ of Switzer- 
land, in several territories along the Rhine, and in 
Bohemia. When Masonry saw the reign of Protest- 
antism solidly established, and the destruction of the 
ancient faith and its temples measurably completed, it 
withdrew to England, there concentrated its powers, 
and prepared for new combats against countries still 
attached to the rock of St. Peter. From England it 
commissioned Jansenism to prepare the way. 

“ Toward the close of the seventeenth century, the 
Free Masons established their lodges in France, and, 
under the protection of the Jansenists and infidel phi- 
losophers, recommenced their manoeuvres. Their insti- 
tution passed into Germany, Poland, Russia, even to 
the Polar regions. It descended into Italy, and thence 
proceeded to Spain and Portugal. With this rapid and 
unimpaired success, several thousand grand masters, 
dignitaries, and officers, in the year 1783, assembled in 
general diet at Wilhemsbad, under the eyes and with 
the applause of European monarchs. There the famous 
Knigge ingrafted on the baneful plant, Weishaupt’s 
branch of Illuminism, which soon produced its fatal 
fruits in the fairest realms of Christendom. Illuminism 


MASONRY. 241 

aggravated the impious character of Masonry, and de- 
monized it with the very spirit of Satan. 

“The eldest daughter of the union of Masonry and 
Illuminism was the French Revolution and its frightful 
consequences, — hatred of God and overthrow of society. 
Lionello, you are yet young ; but, for a man of my age, 
I have been a witness of incredible and unparallelled 
events. All the thrones of Europe were shaken, most 
of them subverted, interminable wars waged, massacres 
perpetrated, crowns displaced, territories alienated. 
The ruins of altars, churches, and monasteries were 
deluged with the blood of priests, in the heart of 
France. Consecrated virgins and ministers of God 
were banished, their goods and possessions unjustly 
secularized. 

“An emperor rises, falls, disappears. But Masonic 
societies neither fell nor disappeared. They produced 
new fruits charged with subtler poison and consumed 
with deadlier effects. Monarchs, shaken on their an- 
cestral thrones by the arm of God, disowned the might 
of that arm which could hurl them to the dust ; they 
still foster these Masonic lodges, or at least abet their 
schemes to assail and trammel the Church/'* 


* We believe that this historical sketch is more reliable than the 
history of Eckert, who is too devoted to the order of Templars. We 
admit that some of the more impious Knights of the Temple intro- 
duced new errors into the Scotch lodges ; but the Masonic lodges were 
already the secret receptacle of all the mysteries of iniquity brought 
from the East by the Catari and the Manicheans. The proof is found 
in the document of Cologne of 1535. “The society or order of Free 
Masons,” it says, “derives its special origin neither from the Templars 
nor any ecclesiastical or chivalric order. It is the most ancient of all 
orders, and bound to none by any direct or indirect tie. It existed 
before the Crusades in Palestine and Greece, &e.” In fact, the errors 

21 


242 


LIONELLO. 


As the count ended his long dissertation, his daughter 
Sophia returned from the church with radiant eyes and 
cheeks flushed with the joy which flooded her soul. At 
three o'clock on the following day, we resumed our jour- 
ney in the direction of Entremont, accompanied for some 
distance by Father Cart, four maroniers, and two of 
their dogs. When we reached the Refuge, our generous 
host bade us farewell ; and, taking our seats in a sled, 
we glided rapidly to Lide and St. Pierre. Thence we 
rode to Martigny, where my carriage had been waiting 
for me two days. 

The count was disposed to leave next day by the 
Simplon coach ; but I stoutly opposed this plan, and so 
importuned him to honor me with his company, that at 
length he accepted my invitation and journeyed with 
me to Geneva. I had a comfortable Viennese berline, 
into which I handed the count and his daughter ; and 
then, wrapping myself in a fur cloak, I took my seat by 
the side of my coachman, delighted at the opportunity 
which I had thus procured of admiring for two days 
more the virtues of Sophia. I needed this consoling 
recollection in view of the frightful misfortune which a 
few days subsequently awaited me at Lyons. 

of the Manicheans, Albigenses, Frisons, Little Brethren, Little Poor 
of Lyons, Arnold of Brescia, &c., desolated the East loDg before the 
abolition of the Templars. As to the corruption of the Masonic fra- 
ternities, there can be no question, since they preserve, hypocritically, 
all the names and dignities of pious congregations, which the Catholic 
Church, by means of indulgences, instituted for the progress of reli- 
gion and the civilization of Europe. 


THE ORPHAN. 


243 


CHAPTER XIX. 

THE ORPHAN. 

When Mimo had read thus far the memoirs of Lio- 
nello, an event occurred which for a while prevented 
Alisa from joining the party in the meadow-arbor. 
Whilst Bartolo, after their arrival in the Chablais, spent 
the morning with Don Baldassare and his nephews, 
chatting, smoking cigars, and reading the newspapers, 
Alisa, as soon as breakfast was over, went down alone 
to the shady shores of the lake, by a path bordered with 
white plum-trees. There she pored over a book under 
a tall and branching alder-tree. One day a poor little 
peasant-girl, about ten years old, approached her, curt- 
sied respectfully, and, with a charming air, offered her 
a bouquet. Alisa was enchanted with the child, 
lavished caresses on her, and, after having given her a 
small coin, returned home. 

Every morning at the same hour the little flower-girl 
appeared and presented her nosegay with a delighted 
and happy countenance. Alisa was at a loss how to 
reward her. Shortly afterward she inquired of another 
peasant-girl, whom she saw passing, the name of the 
little stranger. 

“ Oh, signora, she is a poor little orphan, the daughter 
of people of quality. She is here in the country, living 
a miserable life, when she ought to be happy in her 
father’s palace.” 

“ How is that?” exclaimed Alisa. “ Where are her 
parents?” 


244 


LIONELLO. 


“Ah, beautiful lad y,” replied the Savoyard, “her 
father is gone away travelling, we don’t know where. 
You must know that the father of little Lodoiska is a 
very rich count in Poland. Our priest says he has 
more land than we see in all of the Chablais ; that he is 
lord of many castles, villages, and farms, in which 
thousands of peasants are working in the fields, taking 
care of the flocks, or minding the horses in the stables. 
Well, unluckily, my lady, these great lords don’t know 
how to be satisfied with their good fortune. Count 
Casimir, (I knew him, you see,) with other nobles, rose 
up against a terrible emperor, whose name I forget 
now.” 

“He is the Emperor of Russia,” remarked Alisa. 
“ He rules over a large part of Poland.” 

“Just so. Well, Count Casimir belonged to his 
court. The emperor overcame the Polish lords in a 
certain city called” 

“Warsaw,” said Alisa. 

“Yes: at Warsaw he put many of them to death, 
and sent many of them into banishment, far, far away 
into a country where it is so cold that during the whole 
year there is snow and ice on the ground, as yonder no 
the top of Mont Blanc.” 

“ In Siberia. Poor men !” 

“But Count Casimir was lucky enough to escape 
with the Countess Ludomilla. Oh, what a good and 
beautiful lady she was ! She was so gentle and kind 
to everybody ! I was in her service for a year ; and 
she always called me her good Margaret. But that 
emperor, to punish Count Casimir, took away all his 
property, and condemned him to death if he should ever 
dare come back to Poland. He fled to France with all 


THE ORPHAN. 


245 


the gold and silver which the countess could lay her 
hands on in their hurry. But, as the expenses were too 
great in that country, he came here to Savoy and lived 
near Evian, in that house which you see yonder on the 
hill. Here the little girl was born, who every day 
brings you flowers; and when^she was weaned, her 
mother, the countess, gave her to Mother Agnola to 
take care of.” 

“ Poor lady !” sighed Alisa, deeply moved. “ What 
poignant sorrow she must have felt as she looked upon 
that guiltless little exile !” 

“ Yes, indeed. She had so many sorrows that she 
did nothing but grieve all day long. Every morning 
she had her little daughter brought to her ; every 
evening she went to Mother Agnola’s cabin, covered 
her child with kisses, and made the sign of the cross on 
her forehead, breast, and mouth. Many times she held 
her daughter up in her arms, and said, with tears 
in her eyes, 1 Bozemoi, Bozemoi 1 Gospodi, pomilluy ! 
Gospodi, pomilluy T* words which I did not under- 
stand. You ought to have seen her doing the work 
with her lady-white hands. I helped her to make the 
bed, clean the rooms, bring water and wood. She did 
all the rest, — even the washing. She cooked, too, for 
the count. He went gunning, and brought home a pair 


* Bozemoi; “my God!” Gospodi, pomilluy ! “Lord, have mercy on 
me!” How many mothers are doomed to experience this anguish 
through the political madness of their husbands! Alas! the sweet 
offices of maternity, so far from gladdening their hearts, serve only 
to enhance their sorrows ; for they see their children subjected to 
want and misery in that very home where riches and honors should 
have awaited them, and the benefits of an education corresponding 
with the rank which they were to hold in society. 

21 * 


246 


LIONELLO. 


of doves, — sometimes a partridge or snipe. The 
countess cooked them with some vegetables ; and this 
was all their dinner. When the meal was ready, she 
washed her hands and face, smoothed her hair, and 
fixed herself so nicely that she looked as bright as a 
star. She cried all the morning; but when she sat 
down to the table with her husband, she tried to look 
quite cheerful. And as you saw her smiling and joking 
with the count, (who, poor man, scarcely ever smiled, 
and then only when he couldn’t help it,) you would 
think she was the happiest lady in the world. 

“ But, unfortunately, the Countess Ludomilla began 
to decline, little by little. She had a burning fever, 
which she tried to hide the best she could ; but several 
times she was seized with weakness, and fainted. I 
brought her to by throwing some fresh water in her 
face. The water actually smoked, the fever was so 
high. She was gasping for breath, and her heart was 
beating so violently that she made me a sign to open 
her dress. Every morning, after carrying a cup of 
coffee to her husband in bed, she went to church, like 
you, signora, to hear mass, and many times she received 
the holy communion in a most pious and edifying way. 
When she began to grow sick, our parish priest, who 
saw her every day, made Amadea, a strong young girl 
who lives opposite, go to the church with the lady, who 
leaned on her arm. One evening, as she was seated in 
an arm* chair, she began all at once to grow deadly pale. 
I ran to her and put her in bed. When she came to 
herself a little, she asked to see the priest and her little 
daughter. The count at that moment came back from 
Evian, where he had gone to give lessons in drawing 
and fencing only think how much he was reduced ! 


THE ORPHAN. 


247 


And then what a scene ! The countess took his hand 
and said, ‘ Casimir, do not lose confidence in Mary, our 
blessed Mother ! She will protect you ; and when I 
reach heaven I will pray for you.’ 

“ Then she took Lodoiska by the hand, made the sign 
of the cross on her forehead, and kissed her. She raised 
her eyes to heaven and prayed : — ‘ 0 Mary ! Mary ! 
Mary ! I put her in your arms ; I trust her to your 
motherly heart.’ Then she closed her eyes and mur- 
mured with her lips, ‘ Bozemoi ! Bozemoi !’ The priest 
gently loosened her hand from the child and sent her 
out of the room. He gave the lady the Viaticum; and 
during the night she died in my arms. 

“ The count, two months after that, sent for Agnola, 
and, having given her all the money he had, said, ‘ I 
am going to set out for America. I leave to you as a 
pledge all that is dearest to me in this world. Oh ! take 
good care of my child. Show her to me when, with 
God’s blessing, I shall return.’ Good Mother Agnola 
began to cry heartily. She kissed the count’s hand, 
and then his little girl ; but her heart was too full : she 
could not say a word. The count went away to Buenos 
Ayres, a country a long way across the seas. Our 
priest tells us that it is night there when it is day here, 
and that the people there have summer when we have 
winter. Please tell me, lady, how do the folks live 
below our mountains, with their heads hanging down 
and their feet placed against ours ?” 

Alisa, absorbed in compassionate thoughts, did not 
heed the question of the peasant-girl. She bade her a 
kind good-bye, and, hastening to her father, besought 
his pity for the orphan- girl. Bartolo answered her 
petition : — 


248 


LIONELLO. 


“ You know, my child, what a happiness it is to me 
to gratify you, especially in circumstances like these, 
where you show me anew the goodness of your heart 
and the charity which it inspires. Were you in the 
same condition, you would be very happy to meet a 
friend who would rescue you from misery.” 

Alisa begged the parish priest to accompany her. 
Her proposition drew tears from his eyes. He escorted 
her to Agnola’s cabin, and asked her if she was willing 
to give up the child to Alisa, who would treat her as a 
sister, and on her return to Geneva place her under the 
care of Sister Clara, to receive an education becoming 
her rank. Agnola looked up to heaven, and said, “ Oh, 
yes, with all my heart ! The Countess Ludomilla sent 
us this angel; she — she sent her!” Alisa extended her 
considerate kindness to Agnola, and expressed the wish 
that the nurse should come and live with them during 
their sojourn at the villa. 

She took Lodoiska by the hand and presented her 
to her cousins and Don Baldassare, who were charmed 
with the charity of Alisa, and the grace of her little 
prot£g6e. 

For the few following days, Alisa was entirely en- 
gaged in preparing suitable clothing for the child, 
whom she called her little sister. Even in her rustic 
dress the orphan was prepossessing ; but attired accord- 
ing to her position in society she showed in her coun- 
tenance and gait a distinguished air. Thanks to the 
instructions of her benefactress, in a short time she 
learned to read with facility, to write, cipher, repeat 
her catechism by heart. Alisa passed the finest por- 
tion of the day in these charitable occupations, and, 


THE ORPHAN. 249 

with more judicious lessons than Polyxena had required 
of her, trained her young pupil to the love of God. 

Lodoiska, like the generality of children, was attacked 
by the measles. Alisa never quitted her bedside, and 
nothing could distract her mind in the tender solicitude 
which she felt for the sufferer. She begged her father 
and cousins to continue, meanwhile, the reading of 
Lionello’s memoirs, in their shady retreat, whilst she 
staid in the house to keep her little sister company. 
But the fever, happily, disappeared, and the child rapidly 
improved. Alisa told her relatives that she would soon 
rejoin them in the valley, and enjoy the rest of the 
narrative. Mimo offered to come and read in her room 
the chapters which they had gone over in her absence ; 
hut she would not consent to his proposal, but con- 
tented herself for the present with an epitome of the 
principal facts. The details, she said, she could read 
subsequently in the manuscript. After breakfast the 
rest of the family repaired to their accustomed seats, to 
learn the fortunes of this young man, who, they de- 
clared, inspired them with sentiments of compassion, 
horror, and contempt. Alisa, who had come down 
and taken her seat in the arbor, heard their remarks, 
and expressed her surprise : — - 

“Compassion and horror are natural, I allow; but 
why contempt?” 

“For two reasons, my daughter,” said Bartolo: “be- 
cause secret societies are wicked and treacherous in 
the means they adopt to seduce men ; because the life 
of Lionello is a perpetual contradiction. He sees clearly 
the evil which he is committing, and the iniquity of 
the path which he is pursuing ; but, instead of recoil- 


250 


LIONELLO. 


ing under the light which flashes upon him, he leaps 
from abyss to abyss.” 

“ It is true, indeed,” Alisa observed. “ At times, when 
I listen to his avowals and honest confessions of the 
truth, I cannot persuade myself that Lionello was an 
actual conspirator and Carbonarist. I fancy that I am 
listening to the biography of a virtuous young man.” 

“I am not surprised at this inconsistency,” said Don 
Baldassare. “ I have known young men who in their 
daily conversation and conduct passed for good, worthy, 
sensible persons. Their circumspect manners, reason- 
able language, excellent management of their families, 
respect for the priest who instructed their children, 
watchful care over their servants, whom they required 
to accompany them to church, would lead you to sup- 
pose that they were exemplary Christians. As soon as 
revolutions broke out in Italy, they threw off the mask, 
and convinced you of the fact that, for a long time 
past, they had been members of the Society of the Car- 
bonari, or Young Italy.” 

“It is incredible !” cried Lando. “How can they 
talk like Catholics when they are only impious fratri- 
cides?” 

“It is more natural than you think,” continued Don 
Baldassare. “How can they be any thing else but 
Catholics? Catholicity, in thought and word, is the 
breath of their life : it passes through every pore. Im- 
piety may inspire them with an atrocious hatred of 
Christ, but it cannot efface the impression of years, nor 
destroy the very substance of their being. This is a truth 
which we experience as priests, whenever God touches 
the heart of one of these unhappy men. After the very 
first confession, they regain the language of a Christian, 


THE ORPHAN. 


251 


which they had forgotten for years, with the samo 
facility with which they speak their mother tongue.” 

“It seems to me,” said Alisa, “that they are the 
more criminal, because they know their duty and will 
not do it, but rather do the very contrary of what 
their conscience loudly requires. Lionello is certainly 
in this number. Tell me, Mimo : does he continue in 
his memoirs to speak like De Maistre and live like 
Garibaldi ?” 

“ Precisely so,” replied Mimo. “ He tells us that, after 
separating from the Hungarian nobleman at Geneva, 
he hastened to Paris to quicken the measures of the 
conspirators, — ever dissatisfied with his conduct, and yet 
ever actively engaged in stirring up rebellion. In that 
city he yielded to unbridled luxury. He rented a hotel 
in the Faubourg St. Germain, maintained a magnificent 
establishment, costly equipages, superb horses, number- 
less lackeys and servants, sumptuous repasts, pageants, 
amusements, games. He hesitated at no extravagance. 
He then went to London, Berlin, St. Petersburg, and, 
in all these cities, kept up a style of living so gorgeous 
and luxurious as to exhaust a princely fortune. But 
these expenses were nothing, compared with the enor- 
mous sums he lost at play. 

“ The insurrection throughout Europe at length was 
quelled. Lionello found new claims upon his purse. 
He spent money liberally in behalf of the refugees. 
Many of them who were dependent on his aid were ill 
disposed to accommodate themselves to their changed 
condition. They wished to enjoy in exile the affluence 
and pleasures of their own country. The mother of 
Lionello was deluged with drafts ; and, if she demurred 
to honor them, her son employed expressions of despair, 


252 


L I 0 N E L L 0. 


outrages, menaces, to constrain her finally to accede 
to his wishes. The prospect of his approaching ruin 
preyed on the heart of the countess. She fell sick and 
died, hopeless of her son’s reformation. 

“ You should see the touching letters of Josephine, and 
learn the follies of Lionello, — his resolutions, falterings, 
thousand contradictory desires. He empowered his 
sister to manage his estates, and with the revenue ac- 
celerated his ruin in boundless extravagance. Just 
imagine, Alisa, that in a great hunting-match, which he 
gave at an English castle, he spent, in less than twenty- 
four hours, over four hundred thousand francs!”* 

“ He must have lost his senses altogether,” exclaimed 
Alisa. “At that rate he would soon reach the bottom 
of a mountain of gold. But how was it possible for him 
to spend so much money in one day ? The thing seems 
incredible.” 

“ If you read the description of that fete,” said Mimo, 
“you would be no longer astonished. He invited the 
nobles of London with their wives, ambassadors, cour- 
tiers, distinguished foreigners residing in the capital. 
He furnished his guests with the finest saddle horses 
and hunters. These animals are trained in England, 
and command exorbitant prices. He engaged, more- 
over, a pack of brach-hounds and greyhounds, scores of 
huntsmen, whippers-in, and menials wearing the livery 
of the respective lords to whose service they belonged; 
hampers and sleds to transport the deer, harts, roes ; 
to which you may add pikes, darts, damasceened guns, 

* The author has been accused of exaggeration ; and yet, before 
he wrote the above, he saw a man spend at one entertainment one 
hundred thousand crowns! Ah ! there are more fools in the world 
than people think. 


THE ORPHAN. 


253 


marquees raised for the occasional repose and lunch of 
the company, gratuities to the valets, grooms, keepers, 
compensation-money to the farmers whose fields and 
meadows they had damaged in the hunt. Imagine, in 
like manner, the costliness of his entertainments; the 
abundant supplies of birds, fish, venison, exquisite wines, 
gold and silver plate, Chinese porcelain, service of 
Bohemian vari-colored glass, according to the variety of 
wines and the practice among the English at great 
dinner-parties; waiting-maids dressed in finest black 
Manchester stuffs ; English, French, and German coach- 
men. Picture to yourself the banquet-halls glittering 
with silver-ware and girandoles supported by finely 
chiselled statues, floors covered with magnificent Flemish 
carpets, and the ladies’ seats provided with Lapland, 
Virginia, Canada, Australian, and Bussian furs to warm 
the feet. The smallest of some of these skins cost a 
guinea. After that you may form some idea of the rest. 

“ All this is nothing in comparison with the splendors 
of the ball. Fancy a suite of apartments whose walls 
are hung with Lyons brocade and sarcenet draperies, 
adorned with golden tissues and arabesques. From the 
centre-pieces are suspended chandeliers with crystal 
pendants, whose facets glow like carbuncles with divers 
hues. The walls at the ends of the room are covered 
with St. Petersburg mirrors, from the ceiling to the 
floor, which, in their expansive reflections, multiply the 
guests and indefinitely enlarge the scene. 

“The galleries which surrounded the palace, and the 
entire grounds, were brilliantly illuminated, to eclipse 
moon and stars. An enchanted garden was spread out 
with shrubbery, hedges, little lawns, winding paths 
edged with myrtle, laurel, cornel, and cedar trees. 

22 


254 


LIONELLO. 


Here and there stood graceful kiosks latticed with 
espaliers. The visitors were charmed with the borders 
of white, yellow, and Indian jessamine, the red and crim- 
son hyacinths, the exotic cardamines with their gro- 
tesque flowers, and the blooming white hollyhocks. 
Marble fountains and jetteaus were interspersed. Here 
the sprinkling waters were collected in spacious alabas- 
ter basins, and even into large vases of crimson glass, 
where the falling drops glittered with a thousand mingled 
tints in the tremulous light. In the densest part of 
the forest were caverns and dens shaded with ivy and 
convolvulus. The streamlets murmured in little cas- 
cades from the rocks and disappeared under the tufted 
herbage. The flower-parterres were surpassingly beau- 
tiful. Exotics from every land, grouped with exquisite 
taste, blended their colors and shades, mingled their 
perfumes. Here you saw a bed of strawberries, farther 
on boxes with pineapple plants, clusters of aromatic 
herbs, lines of gooseberry and raspberry bushes. There 
you found vines laden with white, black, and crimson 
grapes, and branches bending under the most luscious 
peaches, pears, and pome-apis. The entire galleries 
were ornamented with cedar, orange, and citron 
trees. 

11 Bearing in mind, Alisa, that these artificial gar- 
dens, these flowers and fruits, were transported from 
the green-houses of London florists, you may form 
some idea, from the rapid sketch which I have 
given you, of the cost of this display, especially in 
England, where every thing commands an enormous 
price. The English lords who give these' entertain- 
ments have the principal supplies in their castles : 
nevertheless, the expenses are immense, and they do 


THE ORPHAN. 255 

not regard as an extravagant outlay the sum of thou- 
sands of pounds sterling.” 

“As far as I can judge,” said Alisa, “this is a 
singular taste, — especially in England, where so many 
wretched creatures are dying of starvation. Did 
Lionello stay long in London?” 

“He staid there a year. But it was only his head- 
quarters, to which he returned from time to time, 
after making certain journeys according to his caprice 
or the orders of Young Italy. At this period he at- 
tached himself to Mazzini, and became a very active 
enroller. To tell you the truth, I am very glad that 
you did not listen to certain criminal and horrible 
adventures which he relates, nocturnal orgies in which 
he shared, infernal assemblies in which he played un- 
lawful games, indulged in debauchery, held secret 
sessions, and performed diabolical rites. What mys- 
teries of iniquity! What abominations! Beelzebub 
surely established a hell on earth as foul and frightful 
as that of the damned ; and there the wrath of God 
cleaves its way, envelops the wicked in flames, crushes 
them with maledictions and eternal anathemas.” 

“ My God !” exclaimed Alisa, “ what communion 
can they have with the devil? What! deny their 
God, to surrender body and soul to their malignant 
enemy ! It is preposterous ! I cannot credit it ! Lio- 
nello must have been in a melancholy mood when he 
painted that gloomy picture.” 

“You forget,” observed Bartolo, “that, by the last 
oath of the Illuminati, the members surrender, devote, 
consecrate themselves to Satan ; become his sworn sub- 
jects; demonize themselves in an identity of mind and 
body. The union is complete : they are incarnate fiends.” 


256 LIONELLO. 

Mimo then addressed himself to Don Baldassare : — 

“ You are a priest, and, of course, best qualified to de- 
cide. Be good enough to tell us your opinion. Is the last 
oath taken in secret societies, as Lionello affirms in 
the preceding chapter, a formal denial of Christ, a 
worship of the devil, a transformation into this infernal 
spirit?” 

“ In the first place, in answer to your question, I 
ask, what motive can induce a Christian, baptized in 
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to be re- 
baptized in the name of the Carbonari, or Young Italy, 
or the Mountain? It. is certainly to efface the first 
baptism, by which they renounced the devil and all his 
works. Consider their act. Is it not an abjuration 
of Christ, and resubmission to the demon ? Is it not 
an effort, as far as they can effect it, to obliterate 
Christ from their souls, and imprint upon them the cha- 
racters of the devil? St.John positively announces 
this truth in the Apocalypse, — 1 Those who have the 
mark of the beast , wage unceasing war with those who 
keep the commandments of God and have the testi- 
mony of Jesus Christ ,’ (chap. xii. 17; xiii. 17.) The 
power which, by Gods permission, the demon, for the 
punishment of the world, gives to the beast — that is, to 
secret societies — is terrible. Mark the worship of the 
devil : — ‘ And they adored the dragon which gave power 
to the beast , and they adored the beast, saying , Who is 
like to the beast ? And who shall be able to fight with it V 
(Apoc. xiii. 4.) Bead the proclamations of Mazzini, and 
you will see that he speaks of humanitarian societies 
as an irresistible power on the earth, — a power which 
scorns and mocks at kings, and, with open defiance of 
all religious principles, affirms that the Church is dead, 


THE ORPHAN. 


257 


and that God is the people. 1 And there was given to 
it a mouth , speaking great things , and blasphemies; 
and he did great signs ; and he seduced them that 
dwell on the earth by the signs which were given him to 
perform ; and he caused that whosoever will not adore 
the image of the beast should be slain,' (chap, xiii.) 
Read the menaces of Proudhon, Fourier, Cabet, Leroux, 
and other socialists and communists. What will you 
discover? The principle, openly taught, that all who 
do not embrace their nefarious doctrine' must be assassi- 
nated and destroyed. Woe to Europe if, by God’s 
permission, they obtain the mastery ! They will horrify 
the world with massacres.”* 

“Jesus and Mary protect us! Those who have 

*The Emancipation of Brussels published, May 30, 1856, an ex- 
tract from the journal of Vezer, which states that the police of 
Bremen discovered in the house of a Thuringian nobleman, a 
person named Hobelman, who passed for a teacher, but was in fact 
the chief of a Carbonarist association. (IIow many Polyxenas intrude 
into families ! Beware, my lords, of this class of male and female 
teachers.) This horrible society was called the Todtenbund, or Society 
of Death, because its members were pledged to murder all who might 
frustrate their designs. Their horrible rules were found, and a long 
list of victims who were to be sacrificed on the same night. Had not 
we too, in 1849, the Society of Death at Ancona, which, in open day, 
massacred the most distinguished citizens, in the most thickly-settled 
streets, with monstrous cruelty? Was not the Society of Slayers, at 
Leghorn , and the Infernal association of Senigallia, which immolated so 
many victims, each a real Todtenbund? And the Band of Stabbers of 
Faenza, which assassinated hundreds of poor citizens for the simple 
crime of loyalty to the Pope, styled, in derision, Papaloni? And the 
Terrorists of Bologna, who slew in a few days so many unfortunate 
workmen ? and the Barbers of Mazzini, who slaughtered so many 
priests at San Callisto in Rome? The Bremen Todtenbund is a sister 
of our Italian societies, which may assail us at any moment, so great 
is the activity of their members and the incredible blindness of 
Christians. 

22 * 


258 


L I 0 N E L L 0. 


not the mark of the beast shall be murdered ! But I 
trust in the mercy of God, and firmly believe that he 
will make the wicked feel the power of his justice.” 

“ Yes, signora; and that justice will be terrible. For 
when the Lord shall have chastised the pride of man- 
kind, he will destroy the scourge which he employed, 
and send his angel to wreak vengeance on his foes. 
* And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat 
of the beast; and his kingdom became dark , and they 
gnawed their tongues for pain , and they blasphemed 
the God of heaven, and did not penance for their works. 1 
(Apoc. xvi. 10.)” 

“Alisa, do you mark that? They shall be chastised 
and die in final impenitence !” 

“And do they not richly deserve this fate?” said 
Bartolo. “ Only think ! they long to murder the good, 
simply because they are good.” 

“ Don Baldassare, is it not evident that most of the 
murders committed at Bologna, and in the Marches, 
were determined by this principle? The victims were 
singled out of the virtuous classes of society. It is an 
incontestable fact. The Infernal Company of Seni- 
gallia furnishes superabundant proofs.” 

“ What did you call it ?” exclaimed the terrified 
Alisa. “ Infernal company?” 

“Yes; the company is composed of miscreants, 
who glory in this title, and, on one occasion, shouted 
in the theatre, 'Success to the Infernal Company T 
They wear the image of death on their red caps; and 
the people call them Slayers, because if they meet a 
man in the street whose face they don’t like, they 
soon settle his doom. They drag him to prison as if 


THE ORPHAN. 


259 


they were officers of justice. 51 ' Others commit murders 
in the public squares and thoroughfares. For instance, 
on the 3d of March, Signor Mariano Perilli. the post- 
master, was assassinated ; the 21st of March, the pious 
canon Specchietti, dean and penitentiary of the Cathe- 
dral; the 1st of April, Paolo Calcina; the 4th of 
May, Pietro Campobasso and others. Among them I 
may mention Michele Resti, who had not instantly 
approved the raising of the liberty-tree. And the 
assassins had been his friends! They had drunk 
with him at the inn and walked quietly, arm in arm, 
in the street. But what crime shall we select, in this 
mass of horrors ? To familiarize themselves with the 
sight of blood, they attacked the prison, dragged out 
Domenico Lanari and Pio Berluti, sprang like tigers 
upon the unfortunate men, brained them with the 
butts of their muskets, stowed their dead bodies in 
bags, and carried them to the cemetery.” 

“ Great God !” shudderingly exclaimed the company. 
“ These socialists are more brutal than savage beasts ! 
They have been taught by the devil to detest all that 
is good. But are these villains known at Senigallia?” 


* These wretches dragged to prison more than sixty-nine citizens. 
Among them were the Countess Virginia Mastai and her husband, 
Paladino Mercuri-Arsili, the Chevalier Filippo Giraldi, nephew of the 
Sovereign Pontiff, and the two brothers Pietro and Giuseppe Bedini, 
cousins of Monsignor Bedini, nuncio at Rio Janeiro. These dis- 
tinguished personages were carried off by the Infernal society , as 
hostages, on the approach of the Austrian army. After having dis- 
mayed the city by their violence and crimes, they, on the 1st of 
March, attacked the Governmental palace, threatened the governor 
with death, and seized official papers, criminal and political indict- 
ments, and all the arms which had been deposited at the tribunal as 
the corpus delicti. 


260 


LIONELLO. 


“ Certainly. They rove in bands through the streets, 
night and day, insult the citizens openly, print their re- 
solves and sign them with their names. And mark, 
my friend, what I say. If the Pope, on his restoration, 
should approve the sentence of death against any of 
these murderers, there will be an impudent outcry 
against clerical tyranny, barbarity, oppression.” 

“But,” interrupted Mimo, “do you not know the 
new doctrine which is widely broached, — that diversity 
of political opinions, membership of secret societies, 
clamorous demands for a republican form of govern- 
ment, overt revolutionary acts, are not capital offences ? 
Princes, therefore, are bound to overlook them.” 

“ Yes,” remarked Don Baldassare, “ but now we are 
speaking of ordinary crimes, perpetrated by party 
spirit, — robbery, arson, assault and battery, cowardly 
and atrocious assassinations. Let princes pardon rebels 
who will one day overturn their thrones. It is their 
business, — not ours. But for our courts of justice to 
spare murderers simply because they are Carbonari, is 
to upset all ideas of human justice and ignore the 
crime of assassination punishable by our laws.” . 

“ My dear Don Baldassare, it is plain as day that you 
are a priest and the advocate of a barbarous code.” 

“ I retort the charge on you. But you are joking ; 
whereas our republican and constitutional journalists 
are in deep earnest. They reserve the right of shut- 
ting the mouths of people who claim the right of 
breaking the bonds with which they are enslaved.”* 

* Take the kingdom of Sardinia in illustration. A thousand 
vultures of the constitutional system prey upon the people, who dare 
not open their mouths to complain. For the tribunals are imme- 
diately declared permanent, the country is placed under martial law, 


THE ORPHAN. 


261 


“ That is all very good,” said Bartolo; “but we have 
wandered far from the subject of inquiry. The ques- 
tion is, do you believe it possible and true that the 
members of secret societies worship the devil, and are 
identified with him ?" 

“ Pardon the digression. I have already answered 
the first part of the question, by citing the text : ‘ They 
adored the dragon which gave power to the beast, and 
they adored the beast.' (Apoc. xiii. 4.) And this 
dragon is 1 the old serpent, who is called the devil, and 
Satan, who seduceth the whole world' (Apoc. xii. 9.) 
As the beast has all the marks of the secret societies 
of Illuminism, which have invaded the whole world, it 
is easily seen that they who have the characters of the 
beast worship the devil. As to the demonianism of 
these men, or their transformation into Satan, I think 
that this is the real sense of the last oath which they take 
in this impious society : — ' and on her forehead a name 
was written: a mystery.' (Apoc. xvii. 5.) To this 
beast 1 the dragon gave his own strength and great 
power,' (Apoc. xiii. 2,) in animating it with his spirit. 
You are children of the devil, 1 vos ex patre diabolo 
estis,' said Jesus Christ to the impious. What, then, is 
to be said of those who consecrate themselves to the 
devil to wage war with Christ and his saints ? 1 The 

head of every man is Christ ; and the head of Christ is 
God,' (1 Cor. xi. 3,) and the grace of Christ manifests 
the man who lives in Christ. As Christ lives in the 
Father, 1 the Father is in me, and I in the Father (St. 
John x. 38,) in the same manner, whoever disowns 
Christ as his head, and swears allegiance to the devil as 


cannon posted to silence the sovereign people, troops quartered on the 
inhabitants, who are disarmed and subjected to terrible penalties. 


262 


LIONELLO. 


liis head, lives in the devil, is united and incarnated 
with him. As the Christian regards his incorporation 
with Christ as the height of perfection, so the members 
of secret societies regard as the term of their progress, 
incorporation with Satan. If some of these wretched 
men recoil from this impiety, the devil laughs at their 
scruples, and takes possession of them, as perjurers who 
denied Christ by the very act of entering secret societies 
anathematized by the Church. However, it is my 
opinion that the most impious .members of those fra- 
ternities make little account of these rites, oaths, and 
diabolical consecrations ; but they look upon them as 
necessary expedients to drive some of their associates 
to desperate excesses. This was notorious in the agents 
whom the Triumvirs employed at Borne to execute the 
foulest and most flagitious deeds. Provided they attain 
their ends, they trouble themselves little about the 
appearance or non-appearance of the devil. I am 
inclined to think that the most of these apparitions are 
only dexterous mystifications, like that of Doralice with 
Ariel. This opinion, however, does not gainsay the 
fact that demonolatry is the final term of Free Masonry, 
Carbonarism, and the Illuminism of Weishaupt, in all 
its developments."* 


* One of our friends writes to us as follows, from North Italy. 
“I wish that your idea of the final mystery of secret societies were 
developed. Reason, theology, and history fully substantiate the charge 
that the mystery of iniquity is in fact the profoundest demonolatry, and 
that in the inmost sanctuaries of these associations is maintained a ca- 
balistic system of metaphysics which changes the meaning of words, 
and under the forms of orthodoxy conceals numberless heresies. It is 
probable that the Idea, the One , the Great All, with which they assert man 
must one day be identified, is the principle of evil regarded as the 
supreme good, in direct hostility to the God of the Christians. Proofs 


THE ORPHAN. 


263 


“Whilst you are speaking of all this demonry,” said 
the agitated Alisa, “I am chilled in every limb, as I 
reflect on the misery of the poor woman who marries 
one of these monsters. And how many mothers nurture 
these unnatural sons ! How many daughters embrace 
their criminal fathers, and inhale their infernal breath ! 
The evil would be less horrible if they were children of 
no mortal parents, — if they were the offspring of the 
wilderness. But the demon lets them loose on the cities 
of Italy, like bears and lions and serpents, the scourges 
of divine justice.” 


of the system, rational, practical, theological, should be collected, and 
collated with the prediction of the Apocalypse. As to the idea that 
the supreme transformation of humanity is connaturalness with the 
demon, it is logical and, in my opinion, also historical. It is the 
spirit of all German philosophy; and socialism, which is antitheistical, 
prepares the mind for this conclusion, and only waits for the favorable 
moment to announce the God of the new religion, and openly preach 
the dogma of demonianism. Then demonstrations, based on facts and 
positive data, would be irresistible ; they would convict socialism of 
nefarious conspiracy, and expose the finality of German doctrines and 
modern rationalists.” 

The philosopher who wrote this letter has since had an opportunity 
of reading our chapter of Ariel and Doralice. It is an instance of 
diabolical consecration, which, in spite of superadded imposture, gives 
us the sense of the baptism conferred by secret societies. But no 
writer dares substantiate such facts by specifying names of persons 
and places. Prudence and charity disallow this course. History can 
obtain these documents only from the state,— that is, from the police, 
the confessions of the accused during their trial, the official reports 
of the judicial authorities, — unless, indeed, some associate break the 
bond of membership, and unveil the mystery of iniquity. We have 
in our possession consecrations to the demon written in blood ; we 
have become acquainted with the execrable ceremonies which are 
practised ; we have been so happy as to inspire despairing souls with 
the hope of God’s infinite mercies ; but our mouth is sealed. These 
are secrets which are buried forever in the heart of the priest. 


264 


LIONELLO. 


“ Society has reached so critical a state that, one of 
these days, I shall make np my mind to retreat into the 
forests and dwell with savages, rather than live with 
those detestable wretches, meet them in the streets, 
occupy a place by their side in the public coaches, rail- 
cars, steamboats, and hotels.” 

“ I agree with you, my dear father ; but why talk 
any more about them ? Let us return to Lionello, who 
sees, perhaps, at length, the frightful abyss of misery 
into which he has fallen.” 

“ Oh,” exclaimed Mimo, “ 1 cannot tell you the pro- 
found contempt I feel when I see a young man reduced 
by his vices and dishonorable conduct to the condition 
of a pitiful adventurer.” 

“ Did he indeed fall so low ? Where, after he left 
London, did he squander the rest of his patrimony?” 

“ First at St. Petersburg, then at Lisbon, afterward 
in Colombia, and even in the Sandwich Islands. Every- 
where he was guilty of the same follies, of excesses the 
most extraordinary and inconceivable.” 


CHAPTEE XX. 

THE SLEIGHS. 

“At St. Petersburg,” continued Mimo, “ Lionello 
maintained a splendid retinue, and lived in lordly 
style. He kept magnificent equipages and blooded 
horses; he lost enormous sums at play. His elegant 
manners, exquisite gallantry, and reckless extravagance 
made him an object of attraction to young men in V 
Eussian society. 


THE SLEIGHS. 


265 


11 In December, he conceived the idea of running a 
train of sleighs, as was still in vogue in Lombardy at 
the beginning of the last century, and as he remem- 
bered it to be a pastime of his father. He accordingly 
sent to Milan, Brescia, Verona, and Trent for models 
of the handsomest sleighs in the coach-houses of 
noblemen. The most expert carriage-makers of St. 
Petersburg were employed to execute his orders ; and, 
on a fixed day, he sallied out, with royal pomp. He 
invited ladies of the first rank and -the most distin- 
guished personages at court to honor his enterprise. 
A large party assembled in elegant gala-sleighs. They 
sped along the grand square of Peter the Great, the 
front of the imperial palace and the Admiralty, and 
the superb quays of the Neva. 

“ Four outriders, mounted on English coursers splen- 
didly caparisoned, preceded the procession. The first 
was dressed as a Cossack, the second as a Pandour, 
the third as a Samoyede, the fourth as a Kalmuck. 
They wore purple jackets, embroidered and tasselled 
with gold, adorned with ruby and emerald buttons. 
Their pelisses hung from the shoulders with golden 
clasps; their caps were made of Lapland marten-skins. 

“At the side of each lady rode a young page, as a 
personal attendant, and in the rear, on large palfreys, 
two livery-servants, brilliant with galloon and golden 
arabesques. The housings were of purple velvet, re- 
lieved with rich and elegantly-designed embroideries 
and escutcheons on the sides, inwoven with silver 
thread. The escort of outriders, pages, and livery- 
servants was mounted on at least twenty-eight horses. 
r The first sleigh represented an eagle, splendidly carved 
1 and gilt; the second, a small puncheon of Bacchus, 

23 


266 


LIONELLO. 


inwreathed with two branching and fruitful vines, 
admirably imitated; the third, a royal tigress, with her 
spotted skin; the fourth, a white bear of Yenisseii 
the fifth, the bark of Kotzebue, the hardy Russian 
navigator, when he discovered the Suwarrow group; 
the sixth, the Bucentaur of the Doge of Venice; the 
seventh, a huge marine monster; the eighth, — in which 
Lionel] o rode, — a vulture perched on a rock, with brood- 
ing wings. 

“ The sleigh-horses had been imported from England, 
Schleswick, Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, and Holstein. 
The saddle-cloths were made of green satin, the collars 
strung with silver bells, the stirrups gilt, the girths 
ornamented with armorial bearings. Under Lionello’s 
sleigh was a small Barbary Moor, with a crest of flam- 
ing red feathers, in the midst of which shone a diamond 
lily and a heron-egret. The eight ladies who occupied 
seats in the vehicles were attired in various costumes 
of ancient fashions, — Muscovite, Lithuanian, Circassian, 
Courland, Podolian, Daghestan, Morlack, Manchour- 
ian. They wore the finest furs brought from the banks 
of the Tanais, Volga, Don, Lena Kolima, and Indergia. 
The bodies of the sleighs were lined with Astracan 
carpets, and skins of the lynx, of the white and the 
black bear. The aprons, or exterior coverings, were the 
finest and softest cashmeres of Persia and Thibet. The 
large beaks or prows of the sleighs were plated with 
gold and silver laminae, and so arranged as to ward off 
the snow flung from the horses’ hoofs. The drivers’ 
seats were covered with superior velvet, and fastened 
to the sleigh with sculptured feet of polished steel. The 
eight young noblemen who waited on the ladies wore 
fur body-coats of the civet-cat, Canada dormouse, Nova- 


THE SLEIGHS. 


267 


Zembla marten, with gold embossments, and pearl, 
emerald, Golconda sapphire buttons. The parade oc- 
curred on the emperor’s feast-day. St. Petersburg 
thronged to admire the gorgeous spectacle, as it flitted 
along the banks of the Neva. Lionello was the theme 
of praise for his taste and magnificence. He had, in 
his person, exalted and aggrandized Italian genius. 
After the ride, Lionello entertained the party at a sump- 
tuous banquet. The wines of Madeira, Malaga, Cyprus, 
Sicily, France, and the borders of the Rhine, flowed in 
streams.” 

“ What extravagance !” exclaimed Alisa. “ Why, this 
surpasses the feastings of kings and emperors ! Lionello 
must have expended fabulous sums for these sleighs, 
with all their adornments of sculpture and gold, and 
the trappings. And then the livery, servants, grooms, 
pages, and, above all, the horses ! It is a gulf to swal- 
low up a fortune!” 

“I must tell you,” added Mimo, “that this frolic cost 
Lionello his Polinesa estates, his palace, gardens, farms, 
rice-magazines, cattle, and draft-horses. It was then 
that Josephine wrote him that touching and unheeded 
remonstrance which was found in his trunk. He pro- 
ceeded from St. Petersburg to Moscow. From this city, 
he determined to make a journey through Siberia to 
Tobolsk, Tomsk, Kolyvan, and visit the unhappy exiles, 
among whom were some French soldiers of Napoleon’s 
army, made prisoners, in 1812 and 1813, by the Rus- 
sians under the Emperor Alexander. He compassion- 
ated the misfortunes of several Polish families which 
had come to share the exile of their friends implicated 
in the revolt of Warsaw. Would you believe it, Alisa? 
In these arid wastes, and these wretched huts, Lionello 


LIONELLO. 


268 

performed noble deeds, and alleviated the sufferings of 
the exiles with many personal sacrifices. Subsequently, 
he traversed the steppes of Ishim, and embarked at 
Astracan, on the Caspian Sea. Thence he travelled 
through the country above the Don and the Dnieper, 
until he reached Odessa. He stayed a while at Tagan- 
rog, at the extremity of the -Black Sea. Here is a 
strange fact. In this remote quarter of the world, J o- 
seph Garibaldi, in 1833, found a believer , as he calls 
him, — that is, an enroller of Young Italy, — who affili- 
ated him as a member of Mazzini s society. Lionello 
had read a lyric poem of Garibaldi, in which he chants 
his initiation: — 

‘A believer taught me rites sublime, 

On Pontus’ icy shore ; 

’Mid Cossack slaves, for my native clime 
To die, I sternly swore.’* 

“At Taganrog, Lionello met this famous initiator. 
He was an interpreter and commission-merchant, who 
studied to inveigle the young men arriving from Genoa, 
Naples, Leghorn, and Triest. The associates had long 
conferences about the central committees of Russia, 
Poland, Germany, and England. They concerted means 

* This is an evidence that the conspirators have spread their 
snares widely over the earth. They find their way to the remotest 
islands of the ocean, shortly after the discoverer has landed on them. 
Since their discomfiture in Europe, they have settled on the shores 
of the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. There they nourish the flames 
of discord which have already half consumed the republics of South 
America. But, to return to Garibaldi; he, in 1833, met at a public 
sale, among other Italian mariners, as Battista Cuneo tells us, a young 
man who won the heart of Garibaldi by his impassioned predictions 
of the future glory of their country, and initiated him in the doc- 
trines of Young Italy. 


THE SLEIGHS. 


269 


of reanimating and extending the society at Kerson, 
Odessa, Sympheropol, in the Crimea; at Tiflis, in Georgia; 
at Georgisk, in Circassia; at Trebisond, Constantinople, 
Smyrna, and in the Greek Archipelago. 

“ Lionello gives next a brilliant description of Con- 
stantinople, Galata, Pera, and Scutari. He speaks of 
Athens, the rock-crowning Parthenon, and the Piraeus. 
He visited the ruins of Missolonghi, Ira, and Tripo- 
lizza, surveyed the port of Navarino, sojourned in some 
of the principal cities of Greece. Everywhere he sowed 
the seed of Illuminism. ,, 

“He was therefore, also, the apostle of iniquity!” 

“Signora,” said Don Baldassare, “would to God that 
the priests of Jesus Christ had as much zeal and tact in 
the ministry of salvation as these agents of hell in the 
diffusion of error and corruption ! Do you think that 
faith, piety, good morals, would then be so debased in 
Christendom? No! assuredly.” 

Mimo continued his recital : — 

“From Greece, Lionello sailed for Malta. There he 
met with some disagreeable adventures in his inter- 
course with Italian exiles, who filched his money. One 
of them, walking with him on the counterscarp of the 
fort Eicaldi, suddenly said, 1 Lionello, give me a check 
for a thousand dollars, or I will throw you into the 
sea!' Lionello signed a check for him on the English 
bank. From Malta, he sailed to Gibraltar, and thence, 
by the Tagus, to Lisbon. Here he made a long stay, 
and squandered the residue of his patrimony at play, 
in debauchery and incredible follies.” 


270 


LIONELLO. 


CHAPTER XXL 

THE ORDEAL OF LISBON. 

“ Speaking of Lisbon,” exclaimed Alisa, “I suppose 
it was there he committed that assassination which he 
deplores so bitterly in that apostrophe, * I swear to you, 
0 my friend, I did not know you!’” 

“ I beg you, Alisa, to pass over that part of the nar- 
rative, which would horrify your imagination. We, our- 
selves, have been excited by those revolting scenes.” 

“You trench upon my rights. Very likely, I shall 
share your sentiments of horror; but the lesson will 
enable me to know the character and detest the perfidy 
of these secret societies.” 

“Well, since it is your will, let us begin. You must 
know that Lionello had become acquainted with a young 
and wealthy nobleman of Lisbon, who directed a bank- 
ing-house for the trade of India, the Philippine Is- 
lands, and China. This young gentleman had finished 
his education in one of the most distinguished Jesuit 
colleges, in 1828, the very year the Government closed 
their doors. He was an elegant and accomplished 
scholar, and, what is far better, a thorough Catholic. 
But he had the misfortune, as Lionello states, to be 
ensnared by a band of desperate conspirators who had 
recently formed a secret society in that city. As soon 
as he discovered their character and aims, he quitted 
them. 

“Don Pedro, supported by these revolutionists and a 
handful of soldiers, made himself master of Oporto, and 


THE ORDEAL OP LISBON. 


271 


finally of all Portugal. His brother, for several years 
the reigning prince, vainly opposed these treasonable 
designs; though he counted among his adherents the 
noblest and strongest part of the nation, and a large and 
powerful body of peasants well trained to a military 
life. Don Miguel, bereft of throne, kingdom, and all 
resources, was obliged, poor and desolate, to take refuge 
in Italy. 

“Meanwhile, Lionello became very intimate with Al- 
fredo. Owing to a loss at play, he was tempted to com- 
mit an infamous deed. He stole a quantity of jewelry 
from one of the richest jewellers in Lisbon. The 
officers of justice were soon on the track of the robber. 
Alfredo saved him from condign punishment. He 
helped him to escape from a roof into a* garden, con- 
cealed him in one of his warehouses, ensconced him in 
a bale of cotton, and thus shipped him on board of a 
vessel which hoisted the English flag. 

“He not only saved his friend from infamy and per- 
petual imprisonment: he compounded with the jeweller 
and persuaded him to quash the indictment. Thus, 
Lionello was indebted to Alfredo for two of the sweetest 
boons in life, — honor and liberty. He was deeply grate- 
ful for the service, and was, in consequence, so urgent 
with Josephine that she determined to send him a heavy 
remittance in order to obviate the inconveniences which 
Alfredo’s generous sacrifices had cost him. 

“Whilst he was waiting for the draft, he learned the 
arrival at Lisbon of a most ardent revolutionist, whose 
acquaintance he had formed at Paris. This man in- 
formed him of the existence of a secret society in Lis- 
bon, the' faithful expression of Weishaupt’s theories, 
which was more potential than Carbonarism or Young 


272 


LIONELLO. 


Italy. It was admirably regulated, and had affiliations 
in Europe, and in countries beyond the seas. 

“ Lionello, who belonged to the principal associations 
in Europe, would have regarded it as a disgrace to be 
excluded from that of Lisbon. He asked to be admitted 
to the supreme functions, as he already held the highest 
grades in the others. 

“‘ Lionello, are you aware of what you ask?’ said the 
conspirator. ‘The first orients are admitted only as 
honorary members, and denied a communication of the 
last mysteries. You have little idea of the ordeals to 
which you will be subjected, the rites which are prac- 
tised, the deity whom we adore. The rites are mystic 
and bloody, the deity mighty, the ordeals appalling!’ 

“‘Were Satan there in person,’ replied Lionello, 
wounded in his self-love, ‘he could not frighten me! 
We are old acquaintances. Go and apply for my ad- 
mission. You will see if the ordeals can make me 
blench.’ 

“Two days later, he received an anonymous note 
couched in these words: ‘At two o’clock in the after- 
noon, be at such a restaurant, near the port. Say to 
the waiter, when you enter, “A cigar.” Then snap your 
fingers, and wipe your nose with a yellow silk handker- 
chief.’ At two p.m. Lionello was at the house, and gave 
the appointed signals. A gentleman richly dressed rose 
from a table, approached, and accosted him with the 
single word, ‘Lionello?’ ‘It is I,’ he replied. They 
left in company, and entered a boat. Lionello was re- 
quested to take a seat; the curtains were lowered. 
They proceeded to the port, passed through a fleet of 
vessels at anchor, in a direction unknown to Lionello. 
At the end of three-quarters of an hour, they ap- 


THE ORDEAL OF LISBON. 


273 

proached an arcade whose base was washed by the 
waves. Here they landed and found awaiting them an 
elegant English carriage. The coachman, in the livery 
of a nobleman, held the horses in rein, ready to start. 
The animals were two superb Andalusian dapple-greys. 
Two richly-liveried negroes opened the carriage-door. 
Lionello entered, and was followed by the stranger. 
Silk blinds covered the windows and concealed from 
view the course which they were taking. All was mys- 
tery. The stranger had not yet opened his mouth. But, 
as the carriage rolled over a sward, he broke the si- 
lence: — ‘Lionello, the trial which you will have to 
undergo is terrible: if you sustain it, we will salute 
you as a brother.' 

“In a little while the carriage whirled with a crash- 
ing noise under a portico. The valets open the door, 
and the passengers alight. The coachman drives 
through an opposite gate; the entrance is closed, and 
he disappears. 

“ Lionello and his companion stood alone at the bot- 
tom of a grand marble stairway. The latter said to 
him, — 

“‘Before we go up we must see if your knees are 
warm. Come with me.’ 

“ He opens a small iron door under the stairway. A 
fierce flame rushes out and envelops his person. Lio- 
nello does not recoil. The stranger immediately retires 
and closes the door. The flame vanishes.* 


* This ordeal, which, from its unexpectedpess, dismays the most 
intrepid, is quite harmless. As the iron door revolves, a spring strikes 
a small ball of fulminating powder, and inflames a vessel of spirits of 
phosphorus. The current of air flings the body of flames in the face 
of the person who opens the door, and envelops his person as if he 


274 


LIONELLO. 


“ They entered then by a portico into a corridor on 
the left. Here a stairway of moderate inclination leads 
to two basement rooms, lighted from the ceiling. In 
these dungeons were cages of bears, lions, hyenas, tigers, 
panthers, leopards, whose cries and howls formed a 
dismal concert. 

“ ‘To the tigress!’ shouted the stranger. 

“A keeper, with a diabolical face, stood before 
Lionello, eyed him gloomily, and said, with a sardonic 
grin,— 

“‘Look at me!’ 

“ Lionello gazed at him. 

“ ‘ Audacious youth ! Do you see that beautiful and 
roaring tigress ? I am going to open her cage. You 
must enter, fix your eyes steadily on hers, stand before 
her, threaten her with uplifted whip. Woe to you if 
you tremble or quail when she scents you in her foam- 
ing rage. She will tear you in pieces.’ The keeper ap- 
proaches the cage and cries, ‘Berenice.’ The beast 
flashes her eyes upon him, and withdraws to the end 
of the cage. He slips back the bolt and thrusts Lio- 
nello in.” 

“My God!” exclaimed Alisa ; “ how horrible ! Did 
he escape safe and sound ?” 

“Yes, my dear child,” answered Bartolo. “The 
most ferocious beasts cower before the imperious eye of 
man. Between Lionello and the tigress was a trap- 
door, through which the keeper, satisfied with the trial 
of the aspirant’s nerves, allowed him to sink.” 

“ Then,” continued Mimo, “ he kissed Lionello’s fore- 


stood in a fiery furnace. It flickers about his beard and hair without 
inflicting any injury. 


THE ORDEAL OF LISBON. 


275 

head. He subjected him to several other ordeals, more 
terrible, in succession; the recital of which would only 
serve to distress you. Lionello underwent them with 
credit, — thus verifying the singular contradiction in man, 
who, unwilling by self-sacrifice to carry the yoke of the 
Lord and win everlasting life by slight trials, braves 
the severest, to become the slave of the devil and an 
inmate of hell." 

“And this," said Don Baldassare, “is the devouring 
despair of the damned. They discover that they have 
walked in difficult ways and exhausted their energies 
in the pursuit of trifles ; 1 Et quidem ambulando vias 
difficiles 

“But," resumed Mimo, “this trial was nothing com- 
pared with the last, when Lionello had proved himself 
a man of nerve and intrepidity. He was conducted by 
the grand stairway to a magnificent saloon, adorned 
with Flemish carpets, mirrors, and girandoles. Beyond 
this saloon were handsome apartments, furnished and 
decked with Oriental luxury. The most delicious per- 
fumes breathed the very spirit of voluptuousness. On 
every side were articles of virtu, in precious woods, 
silver, and gold; paintings, rare sculptures, and the 
most exquisite, rich, and charming objects which the 
imagination could invent. When they had reached a 
small cabinet, the guide suddenly disappeared by a 
lateral door. Lionello was lost in wonder at this elegant 
spectacle. He fancied himself in the temple of the 
Graces; for the furniture was admirably wrought, the 
colors chosen softest to the eye, the sofas and ottomans 
covered with sky-blue satin, the floors inlaid with 
mosaic, the ceiling gilt and painted with rural scenes 
of dancing Bacchantes. 


276 


LIONELLO. 


“ Seated on a sofa, lie was surveying this charming 
display, when he heard the rustling of a dress, and 
suddenly beheld before him a woman, or rather a queen, 
to judge from her aspect, air, gait, and the haughty 
glance of her eye. She was attired as a Cuban creole, 
in a talma of black velvet, edged with gold. A cincture, 
whose clasp sparkled with Orient rubies, bound her 
waist and fastened a short, stiff skirt of scarlet velvet, 
encircled above with a purple band, and below with a 
golden border. She wore hose of pearly silk, and 
gaiters of coral- colored sarcenet. * 

“ Lionello was at first astonished by the lady’s 
entrance, and, when she took a seat at his side, began 
to address her in complimentary language : 1 1 am 
surpassingly honored — I am enchanted by your divine 
presence.’ But the lady’s countenance at once assumed 
a severe expression. 

“ 1 Foolish man,’ she said ; 1 do you think to win my 
favor by these vapid flatteries ? Learn that the only 
homage I accept is the homage of blood.’ 

“ She drew a dagger from her bosom and offered it 
to him. 

11 1 Go,’ said she, 1 and slay the traitor whom you will 
find. Bring me back the dagger drenched in his blood, 
and then you will be worthy of our society, and we will 
enroll you among the brethren. If you are a craven, 
give it to me, and I will supply your place. He will be 
the eleventh victim whom I will have sacrificed in 
punishment of his perjury.’ 

“ She arose from her seat, took Lionello by the arm, 
opened a door, pushed him into a room, and disappeared 
as she shut him in. A gigantic negro enters, and makes 
him a sign to follow. He is conducted, by dark flights 


THE ORDEAL OF LISBON. 277 

of stairs, into a small room hung in black. There Lio- 
nello perceives a man kneeling in prayer, with his face 
buried in his hands. A dim and flickering light glim- 
mered around. The -negro in silence pointed to the 
victim, and, with clutched hand and upraised arm, made 
a sign to stab him in the neck. Lionello advances on 
tiptoe, bends forward, strikes his weapon into the 
carotid artery, and then withdraws it. The murdered 
man turns, lifts his hand to his neck, raises his eyes, 
and cries, ‘ Lionello, is it you ? God forgive you ! I 
forg !’ He falls backward and expires. The terri- 

fied and astounded assassin exclaims, ‘ Alfredo, I did 
not know you!’ He throws himself on his friend, tries 
to stop the bleeding, kisses the dying mans lips, and 
again exclaims, ‘ I swear to you that I did not recognise 
you! Ah, the monsters! The accursed dogs!’ He 
raises the poignard to plunge it into his own heart. But 
the negro seizes his arm, wrenches the poignard from 
his hand, and carries him fainting into another room.” 

“ Gracious Heaven !” cried Alisa, “ what horrors ! But 
how did that poor Alfredo get into that den of rob- 
bers?” 

“By treachery,” replied Mimo. “Lionello subse- 
quently learned that Alfredo had been waylaid by three 
bravos on his return at night from the port. They 
seized him, bandaged his eyes, threw him into a carriage, 
and brought him to the slaughter-house. The exact 
place Lionello never discovered. After his swoon he 
was carried to Belem, and left on the road to Lisbon. 
He was so overcome with terror, that, on the receipt of 
the remittance from his sister, he embarked on board 
of a vessel weighing anchor for Valparaiso.” 

“There,” said Bartolo, “are the fruits of secret 

24 


278 


L 1 0 N E L L 0. 


societies ! A young nobleman degraded into an assassin ! 
And God, to inflict a terrible punishment, permits the 
first blood shed by his hand to be that of his benefactor 
and intimate friend. But, Alisa, it is worthy of remark 
that there is intoxication in the shedding of blood. 
After the first crime, Lionello becomes a professional 
assassin.” 

“Thank God,” ejaculated Alisa, “men of this class 
are rare. We might truly say that Lionello was hurled 
from precipice to precipice by a fatal and invisible 
hand.” 

“ Do you know what is that hand ?” asked Don Bal- 
dassare. “ It is hardness of heart, frenzy of the passions, 
the goading of sin, the angel of the wrath of God, who 
pursues the impious man, according -to the Psalm. Do 
not suppose, signora, that this young man is the only 
person who, perverted by secret societies, has committed 
murder by his own hands or by the hands of his agents. 
About the epoch of which Lionello speaks, there was at 
Faenza a count, who, on a certain night, held at his 
house a meeting of the Carbonari, and he so excited 
them against the pious and learned canon Montevecchi, 
that before they adjourned they cast lots to determine 
the assassin who was to shorten that precious life. And 

I know other counts and marquises of our day who 

But, Mimo, please to continue the narrative, or I may 
be tempted to mention some fine, specious personages.” 


THE WHALER. 


279 


CHAPTER XXII. 

THE WHALER. 

Mimo continued : “ Lionello, provided with funds, 
arrived at Valparaiso. He might have associated with 
a banker or merchant, doubled hia- capital, and become 
rich. But he was little disposed to engage in banking- 
operations or commercial pursuits. In the cities of 
Chili, at Valdivia, Conception, San Jago, and Valparaiso, 
were a number of Italian refugees, who had been very- 
active in the insurrection of 1831. They eagerly 
gathered round Lionello, followed his steps, and laid 
close siege to his purse. Lionello, naturally generous, 
was unable to resist these attacks. By the management 
of an artful exile from Ancona, they determined to 
charter a vessel and make a whaling-voyage to the 
Xorthern seas. The band was composed of two Genoese, 
a Corsican, two Frenchmen escaped from the galleys 
at Toulon, a Scotchman, two Englishmen, who had been 
engaged in the business, three Pisans, two Leghorn 
men, a citizen of Chiozzo, two Greek pirates, one from 
Cephalonia, the other from Nauplia. With these twenty 
desperadoes, and a crew of cabin-boys, topmen, and 
other sailors, the vessel set sail, furnished with cannon, 
hooks, harpoons, lashings, crampoons, and long poles 
headed with blades or tridents, to assail the fish at close 
quarters. 

“Their first efforts were crowned with success in the 
Gulf of California. They then sailed northward, between 
Vancouver’s Island and New Hanover, looking out for 


280 


LIONELLO. 


whales as they coasted, as far as New Cornwall, the 
peninsula of Alaska, and Cape RomanzofF, even to the 
polar zone. In a thousand circumstances they might 
have proved models to their fellow-citizens, of firmness, 
intrepidity, constancy, if they had employed these quali- 
ties to subdue their evil passions and develop the 
generous dispositions of their souls. 

“Lionello was ever unappalled amidst the wildest 
terrors of the ocean. He bore patiently the extreme 
£old of the arctic regions. He often, with a firm stand, 
awaited in his boat the attacks of white bears mad 
with rage and hunger. They had been carried off by 
the flood tide, on detached cakes of ice, whilst they 
were devouring the body of a seal near the shore. 

“ More than once Lionello assaulted them with pike 
or pole-blade. Whilst the bears were sliding on the 
ice, in their attempts to spring on the boat, Lionello 
killed them with his heavy weapons. He not unfre- 
quently combated ferocious bisons, and with one blow 
laid them dead by striking his poignard into their 
hearts. He killed, also, several ores, by harpooning 
them in the mouth. As soon as they had been grappled 
he leaped upon their enormous backs, and, with re- 
doubled blows of the axe, stove their skulls. 

“But the sole pursuit of the whale exposed him to 
continual perils. When the look-out topman discovered 
a whale disporting in the distance, he shouted, ‘A 
whale on the larboard !’ The crew immediately launched 
the ship’s boat, mounted their swivels, and steered to 
the point indicated. The huge monster, when he lifts 
his head to breathe, spouts from his nostrils two streams 
of foaming water ; then he gradually emerges, and dis- 
plays his broad shoulders above the surface, like a glossy 


THE WHALER. 


281 

island in the midst of the ocean. It is well ascertained 
that there are whales measuring full two hundred and 
forty and even two hundred and sixty feet, from the 
nozzle to the tip of the tail, and across the back one 
hundred to one hundred and twenty feet, — so that the 
immense mass of flesh rises above the waves like a 
three-decker. They generally yield each one hundred 
tuns of oil. The whale proper is the monarch of the 
cetaceous tribe. The head is prominent and dispro- 
portionably large, with eyes not larger than an ox’s, and 
a mouth so capacious that a twelve-oared barge can 
enter without difficulty. There is another whale, — the 
most horrible monster that rises from the depths of the 
sea. Besides fleshy antennae which fall from its lips, 
stiff at the root and flabby at the extremity, ample 
muscles hang, like wrinkled lids, above the eyes, and 
roll as two cataracts in perpetual motion. When the 
leviathan floats upon the ocean, these antennae resemble, 
as they droop, two immense shrouds, and give the 
monster an aspect the most frightful that can be 
imagined. 

“When the whale-fishers see the animal rising to 
breathe fresh air, they do not venture to attack it in 
front. They approach it noiselessly on opposite sides. 
The two cockswains stand at the prow, harpoon in hand, 
give the signal to the rowers, dash the weapons into 
the whale, and simultaneously order the boat to be 
backed with rapidity. For the gigantic monster, as 
soon as he feels the sharp instrument in his flank, 
is flurried, spouts torrents of water to a great height, 
and lashes the sea into a fury with his tail-fin, so as to 
engulf the boats, or fling them into the air, shattered 
by the single blow. At the end of the tridents and 


282 


LIONELLO. 


harpoons is a hook, to which is attached a coil of rope. 
The rope is made fast to the boat. When the whale 
is wounded, he leaps and bounds furiously. If the 
whalemen can reach the vessel, they attach the rope to 
the capstan, and the vessel is towed quietly along by 
the animal. If they are unsuccessful in this, they are 
obliged to follow in their boats the whale. They shoot 
through the air, plunge into the waves, make zigzag 
traces over the surface, and whirl with the most peril- 
ous motions. When the whale at length is compelled 
to rise for air, the hardy mariners begin to pierce him 
with crampoons and pole-blades, until he expires. Some 
of their companions are so daring as to leap on his 
back and with the axe cut wide and deep wounds into 
the flesh. When at flood tide the whales approach the 
vessels, and the crew are unable to get alongside in 
their boats, they aim their swivels at vital spots near 
the liver and below the gills. The monster dies after 
a thousand convulsions, and is flung, at high water, on 
the rocky coast. This mode of fishing is unattended 
with serious difficulties; but, in general, the sailors 
employ the harpoon, as surer and more efficacious.” 

“ There is a man,” said Don Baldassare, “ who evinces 
the utmost bravery when he battles with the leviathan 
of the deep, or encounters his fellow-man on land in 
deadly combat. Unappalled, he hopes to escape either 
danger. But this same man is a coward when duty bids 
him struggle against his own passions, overcome human 
respect, separate from a dangerous friend or a woman 
who fascinates and casts him into perdition. The un- 
fortunate Lionello, who had so often leaped on the backs 
of whales, crushed the jaws of bears, killed bisons, 
stabbed the terrible ores of the Esquimaux, trembled at 


THE PIRATE. 283 

the benign aspect of Virtue, and fled from her presence 
to indulge the most debasing vices.” 

“After a prosperous voyage,” continued Mimo, “and 
profitable sale of the fruits of their labors, in the 
ports of Lima and Panama, they were swindled by one 
of their cleverest agents in the exchanges of Brazil, 
Mexico, and London. He entered in his own name the 
stock of the company and their oil-depots ; by per- 
fidious transactions he defrauded Lionello of his shares 
and completely beggared him. His associates, driven 
to despair, said to him : — 

“ ‘ Lionello, that villain has robbed us, and enriched 
himself with our hard-earned gains. Sooner or later 
we will settle scores with him. But, if you have the 
heart to make the trial, let us seek the smiles of for- 
tune. Let us arm our brig, sally out to sea, and seize 
on every vessel we meet, as our property. The world 
belongs to the strong-handed man.' ” 


CHAPTEB XXIII. 

THE PIRATE. 

Mimo proceeded : “ They sailed to San Francisco, in 
California, where they strengthened their armament 
with twelve twenty-four-pounders, and a supply of 
swords, guns, powder and shot. Thus prepared, the 
freebooters plundered vessels from Cape Corrientes to 
the bays of Tehuantepec, Fonseca, Panama to Guayaquil. 
They were familiar with all the creeks, inlets, coves, 


284 


LIQNELLO. 


where ships stopped to revictual when their provisions 
were exhausted or spoiled by a long voyage on the 
Pacific Ocean. The fleet and unexpected brigantine 
pounced upon these vessels and despoiled them. 

“Sometimes the pirates cruised for several days in 
pursuit of a vessel, without losing sight of her; and, 
when they came alongside, they fired furiously into the 
hapless craft, or boarded her decks like raging lions. 
They assailed, slew, and pitched into the sea their 
victims, giving no quarter to any one who fell into their 
hands. They plundered the vessel of gold, silver, 
precious stones, and costliest merchandise, fired it from 
stem to stern, and, returning to their own ship, coolly 
witnessed the horrible spectacle of vessel, crew, and 
passengers consumed in the flames. After having burned 
a ship and its cargo, they scuttled the hull, that it might 
quickly founder and leave no trace of their crime. They 
never spared the vanquished ; they admitted none to 
ransom ; they were steeled against all the entreaties of 
the merchants, who, as a last favor, begged the pirates 
to give them their lives and put them ashore, stripped, 
if they chose, of every thing. 

“ The cruelty of the freebooter made him the terror 
of the seas. He was called the Pirate of death. The 
Mexican republic, and the states of Guatemala and of 
Ecuador, had sworn to exterminate him ; but he had 
his spies, scouts, confidants, and accomplices among all 
the robbers and smugglers of the ports where he re- 
fitted. Secondary pirates, or shore-filibusters, gave 
him the hand of fellowship, as they shared in his spoils. 
He availed himself of another advantage. By means 
of these brigands he levied a heavy black-mail on the 
people of the coast, traders, seal and otter fishers. The 


THE PIRATE. 


285 


brigantine was so light on the water that she escaped 
the pursuit of armed vessels, like the swallow, the 
swoop of the vulture. To-day she is skimming over 
the waters in the neighborhood of Lima, to-night she 
is careering over the high seas. She enters the ports of 
California, and scarcely has her arrival been announced 
than she is ploughing the seas of New Archangel and 
gliding past the frozen islands of Gore and St. Law- 
rence, attacking and plundering the Russian vessels 
engaged in the fur-trade. In less than a year and a 
half the pirate had enriched himself with the spoils of 
merchantmen and amassed a priceless treasure of pearls, 
Oriental gems, Chinese and Japanese porcelain, and, 
above all, of ingots of gold, which were stowed in the 
hold as ballast. His fellow-rovers were miscreants, 
ruffians, fearless and ruthless adventurers. The eye 
of the captain, however, made them quail and become 
gentle as lambs. He was absolute master of their wills. 
The infernal oaths of the secret societies had impressed 
a mysterious and superhuman character on his being, 
which tyrannized over his associates. When he cast 
a wrathful look on one of them, you would be tempted 
to say that the spirit of Satan flashed from his eyes and 
crushed, with diabolical power, the object of his in- 
dignation. And yet they were singularly devoted to 
his person. At his sign they were ready to leap, with- 
out reflection, into the midst of swords and pikes which 
repelled their boarding. In his cruelty he was mag- 
nanimous and liberal : it was the lingering privilege of 
his birth and station.” 

“Nonsense!” exclaimed Alisa. “Why, Mimo, this is 
as good as a play ! The idea of Lionello representing 


286 


LIONELLO. 


himself in hideous coloring, like a devil, desperately 
bent on the ruin of his fellow-men !” 

“It is his remorse,” replied Mimo, “which tortures 
him and wrings from him these humiliating avowals, 
as if he were making a general confession to a Capuchin 
under the gallows.” 

“Well, at all events, we may profit by the ex- 
ample.” 

“Ah, indeed!” said Landro, with a satirical smile. 
“Would you be afraid to enter the secret society? 
You would make, at any rate, a pretty little Carbo- 
narist.” 

“As to that,” resumed Mimo, “Lionello knew how 
to strike a good bargain with a female Carbonarist. 
One day, while he was cruising in search of some vessels 
which were homeward-bound from Conception to Pa- 
nama, he discovered a Brazilian clipper, which, buoyant 
and sportive on the water, after having rounded Cape 
Horn and escaped its perils, was advancing rapidly 
toward the island of St. Ambrose, off the Copiapo coast. 
To espy, pursue, pour broadsides into the checked and 
disconcerted vessel, and at the same instant grapple 
with her, was the work of a moment. The shock was 
dreadful to the Brazilians. They were disposed to de- 
fend the immense treasure on board, and the crew 
fought gallantly. But nothing could withstand the 
fierce onslaught of the corsair and his companions. His 
cuirass was seized by a hand-grapple ; but, with a rapid 
stroke of his sword, he freed himself by cutting away 
a part of the garment. Three of his most powerful 
filibusters, meanwhile, were struck dead at his side. 
He saw a body of men, who were mere passengers, 
fighting with unexampled fury. On them he and his 


THE PIRATE. 


287 

companions threw themselves with impetuosity, and, 
by aiming mainly at their legs, soon overpowered 
them. As soon as he made himself master of the 
ship, he put the crew to the sword. Their heads 
were cut off, their bodies cast into the sea. Then 
he went below, to examine the cargo and the money 
in the captain's cabin. As he entered, he perceived 
a young woman rolled up in a corner, and, on the 
other side, a man trembling and aghast. At the 
sight of them, Lionello roared like a wounded lion, 
and sprang, with a fierce and terrific bound, into the 
middle of the room. 

“Before him were the Creole who had made him 
assassinate his friend Alfredo, and the stranger who 
had guided him to the house of murder. 

“After the first cry of rage, Lionello repressed the 
emotions of vengeance which rankled in his heart. 
He coldly asked them where they were going. The 
woman answered that, the police of Saldanha having 
discovered their secret society, they had scarcely time 
to save their lives by jumping through the window 
into a copse ; that, having lain concealed there for a 
while, they had succeeded in reaching the coast and 
embarked at Pernambuco. Their object was to pro- 
ceed to Quito and stir Bolivia into insurrection against 
the President, who is a desperate bigot. 

“‘Do you recognise me, you infernal monster?' 
shouted Lionello. 

“ She assumed a fawning air, and said to him, — 

“ ‘ I behold in you one of the greatest and most 
generous rovers of the ocean.’ 

“ He turned and put the same question to the man, 
with the same menacing and vengeful tones. The 


288 


LIONELLO. 


wretch had not a word to reply. He tried to stammer ; 
hut the words died on his lips. 

“ ‘Well, then, you daughter of Beelzebub, I am Lio- 
nello!’ 

“ She was stupefied. Lionello gave directions to rifle 
the ship of its most precious articles and chain the 
Creole to her companion. He then went on board of 
his own vessel. He set the Brazilian brigantine 
on fire, sailed for an island, and anchored in a creek. 
On the following morning he ordered a boat to be 
lowered and the prisoners to be put in it. He took 
his seat at the helm, and steered to a reef which ap- 
peared above the water. 

“‘You sanguinary woman!’ he exclaimed, accosting 
the Creole, ‘do you see that rock? You murdered the 
innocent in the obscurity of your gilded den. You shall 
die looking on the ocean which dashes at your feet, on 
the sun which beholds you with horror, and on the man 
whose hand you armed to slay his best friend.’ 

“At these words, the prisoner, notwithstanding her 
bonds, flung herself at his feet and conjured him to 
spare her. She declared that Alfredo, by seceding from 
the society, incurred the doom of traitors ; that his 
death by the hand of Lionello was an accident; that no 
one was aware of their friendly relations. 

“ ‘ Silence, you execrable wretch !’ thundered Lionello, 
as he spurned her with his foot. 

“ He commanded four of his men to carry a gibbet and 
plant it on the highest point of the rock, — then to fasten 
to it, back to back, the Creole and her guilty accomplice. 

“ Now,” said Mimo, “ those rocks are the resort of a 
vast number of birds of prey, kites, vultures, condors. 
Thither they come to bask in the sun, and devour 


THE PIRATE. 


289 


tlie carcasses upthrown by the sea. When the two 
miserable creatures had been attached to the gibbet, 
and Lionello had withdrawn to some distance with his 
men, flocks of vultures left their nests in the fissures of 
the rocks and cliffs of the island promontories, and circled 
with hoarse cries around the gibbet. The bolder birds 
began to pick at the eyes of the criminals as they 
darted past them; then they alighted on their heads, 
shoulders, and breasts, and with their talons emulously 
tore their limbs. The cries of despair, the rage and 
fury, the contortions, of the wretched victims were ex- 
cessively horrible. They were soon drenched in blood, 
and the vultures flew up with shreds of palpitating flesh. 
The head of the Creole was flayed by the beaks of the 
merciless birds, and her long, detached tresses dangled 
in the air. Others assailed her bosom and fought for 
morsels of her heart. Even the savage freebooters 
were overcome by the spectacle, — especially when they 
saw the birds soaring away with their bloody booty. 
Still unmoved, the pirate gazed at the scene with a dry 
eye. A sardonic smile curled his lips, and the trans- 
ports of vengeance thrilled his soul. And now only 
two fleshless skeletons remained, about which fluttered 
an insatiable vulture.” 

“My God!” exclaimed Alisa, “what awful vengeance! 
— the vengeance of a tiger, or rather of a demon!” 

“Some months later,” continued Mimo, “Lionello 
was sailing in the direction of the island of Laxara. 
He had reached the height of wealth and power. At 
this moment divine justice smote him, and snatched 
away the fruits of his crimes. The sun set, the wind 
died away, and not a breath of air freshened the 
parched atmosphere. A calm was Lionello’s most 

25 


290 


L I 0 N E L L 0. 


dreaded enemy. He preferred two days of stormy 
weather to one of serenity. At such a time he was 
a prey to continual remorse. He arose at four o’clock, 
ascended the deck, and lit a cigar. The night had 
been full of terrors. He saw standing at his cabin- 
door the bloody spectre of Alfredo, who gazed at him 
with silent indignation. With one hand he pressed 
his wounded throat, which rattled with the death- 
agony; with the other he clasped and brandished a 
poignard. Lionello sprang from his bed and hastened 
to embrace him. The spectre vanishes. Agitated 
and feverish, he passes up the hatchway to the deck; 
and, lo ! Alfredo, with eyes fixed steadily on him, stands 
between two skeletons — of the Creole and the stranger. 
He hears the clattering of dry bones; he sees the 
woman raise her fleshless fingers and plunge them into 
her eyeless sockets, then, again, gnawing them between 
her teeth, with a horrible expression of vengeance. 
Lionello shivers from head to foot; he dares not 
move a step. He hears the cries and the rushing of 
a flock of vultures; he feels the brushing of their 
wings on his cheeks. He withdraws from the prow, 
and, lo! the three spectres glide from the capstan to 
the foremast, and continue to gaze at him with mena- 
cing eyes. 

“The dawn lights up the horizon, and Lionello 
breathes again. The phantoms, with a threatening 
look, recede, and disappear in the distance. Pointing 
his telescope eastward, he sees, in the direction of 
Guatemala, what he regards as a column of smoke. 
His heart begins to beat. He rapidly mounts aloft, 
and, alas ! discovers a large war-steamer making for 
the Sandwich Islands. Lionello has already de- 


THE PIRATE. 


291 


termined his course. The vessel is unquestionably 
English, bound for an English colony in Polynesia. 
Without a breath of air to fan his sails, he will neces- 
sarily be captured. 

“He hastily descends, and calls into his cabin eleven 
of his most devoted followers, the sole survivors of the 
original band. He apprizes them of their imminent 
danger, removes the diamonds and jewels from their 
strong box, pours them into pouches worn on the 
breast, fills the cuirasses with his gold. He orders 
the largest barge to be lowered and supplied with 
barrels of water and biscuit for eight days. Then, 
aided by two of his men, he carries to the boat a trunk 
of ingots, commands a pilot and two cabin-boys to 
jump in, and, without saying a word to the rest of the 
crew, glides as rapidly as possible into the Sandwich 
group. His companions whom he abandoned were not 
uneasy at this movement, for he was wont to cruise 
about the sea in this manner. Lionello, as soon as he 
was sheltered behind an islet, found a light breeze, and 
bade his men bend their oars with a will. Luckily for 
him, a thick cloud spread over the sea and veiled him 
from the approaching steamer. 

“Meanwhile, the English frigate, seeing the vessel 
becalmed, hailed it, and ordered it to show its colors. 
Receiving no answer, it ran alongside and commanded 
the captain to come aboard with his papers. The crew 
were disconcerted. The mate got into a boat, rowed to 
the steamer, and, presenting his respects to the commo- 
dore, stated that the captain was absent, reconnoitring 
the western coasts of the island. The commodore 
waited a while for the return of the captain, — a delay 
which wonderfully availed Lionello and his associates 


292 


LIONELLO. 


in their flight. Finally he despatched men to search 
the vessel. They found arms, cannon, and provisions, 
and, discovering the piratical character of the ship, 
confiscated it. 

" After inexpressible toils, anguish, and danger, 
Lionello reached the largest of the Sandwich Islands. 
He baffled suspicion by representing himself as a ship- 
wrecked mariner, who had escaped, by a miracle, with a 
few companions.” 

At this moment Bartolo looked at his watch. 

" Bless me!” he said, "it is very late.” 

" Indeed ?” said Alisa, as she arose to retire. " Good- 
night, Mimo: we will hear the rest to-morrow.” 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

ISABELLA. 

Alisa was very desirous of hearing the conclusion 
of the memoirs of Lionello ; but she charged her cousin 
with clipping them pretty freely. After dinner the 
party proceeded to the vale and took their seats in the 
shady bower. 

"Mimo,” said Alisa, with graceful raillery, "when 
the Pope returns, I will beg him to appoint you 
‘abridger of the great park;’ for you are a consummate 
master in the art of making out synopses. You have 
favored me with a fragmentary biography of Lio- 
nello. For instance, the last time I was present at the 
reading, before the sickness of Lodoiska, it was stated 


ISABELLA. 


293 

that Lionello had met with an unpleasant adventure 
at Lyons.” 

Mimo replied, “Don't trouble yourself about it, 
Alisa: it was only an adventure at the gaming-table. 
Had his life been in danger, the faylt was his own. 
People who fear the wasp's sting should not get in its 
way.” 

“Another time you told me Lionello had attempted 
his life.” 

“ Yes, I did ; and it was not the first time. But the 
most dangerous attempt was that which followed a 
tragical event during his corsair-life. He had at- 
tacked a merchant-ship on the high seas. The struggle 
was fierce, and he lost many of his companions, who 
fell beneath the blows of the brave Chilian master. 
Lionello at length vigorously assailed his adversary 
with a long pike, pierced him through and through, 
and pinned him to the foremast. On the fall of their 
captain, the crew surrendered. The ship belonged to 
Valparaiso, and traded at the forts of Lima, Cuenca, 
and Guayaquil, exchanging French woollen fabrics for 
Peruvian sugarcane and sweetmeats, which were ex- 
ported to Europe. His wife and child, from whom he 
could not bear to be separated, accompanied the 
captain in his voyages. She was a woman of remark- 
able beauty and tried virtue, — the object of universal 
admiration and respect. 

“After the capture of the ship, Lionello took her on 
board of his vessel, and assigned her the cabin as her 
apartment. The young widow, superior to the griefs of 
her situation and the opprobrium of servitude, did not 
yield to dejection and the ordinary lamentations of her 
sex. She maintained a dignified and imposing demeanor, 
25 * 


294 


LIONELLO. 


which inspired the victors with more respect than com- 
passion. Lionello went below, and found Isabella seated, 
with her child in her arms. She was pale and sad ; but 
she veiled the agony of her soul under a grave and com- 
posed exterior. The pirate was struck with her noble 
and majestic mien : he stood motionless and silent in the 
middle of the room. Isabella uttered no supplication, 
but, looking at him, said, with a steady voice, — 

“ ‘ Captain, if you are as magnanimous as you are brave, 
I feel confident you will respect an unfortunate widow. 
Place me again on the brigantine, and I will try, with 
the help of its crew, to reach Valparaiso.’ 

“ Lionello was so astonished by this address that he 
was unable to order the ship to be set on fire. He 
promised the widow that no one should ill treat her. 

“ During the following days, Lionello frequently 
visited Isabella, and sought to console her. He con- 
ceived the most violent passion for her, and could not 
forbear declaring it. The wretched woman rose up, and 
said to him, ‘ Captain, you promised to guard me against 
disrespect : respect me, then, in your own person.’ 

“ These few words silenced Lionello. But, like all 
bad men in the fury of their passions, he strove by a 
thousand arts to seduce her. She bore these trials with 
inexpressible sorrow, and implored the Almighty to 
succor and defend her. 

“One night, after having rejected with scorn the 
infamous proposals of the pirate, she went on deck with 
her son. She sat down near the capstan, and, raising 
her hands to heaven, whilst the tears streamed down 
her cheeks, she murmured a fervent prayer to the 
Queen of Angels. Suddenly, about the fourth watch, 
Lionello, wearing a haggard look, and heaving deep sighs, 


ISABELLA, 


295 


comes himself on deck. He advances to the prow, and 
perceives Isabella. Maddened by his base passion, he 
snatches the child from her arms, and exclaims, — 

Isabella, if you continue to reject my addresses, I 
will fling your child into the sea.’ 

“The terrified mother sprang from her seat, and 
cried, with a suppliant voice, 1 Captain, surely you fear 
God ! You have a soul to save ! There is a God who 
will judge, — an eternity which awaits you. Mercy to 
him who shows mercy.’ At those words of deep import 
— soul, God, eternity — streams of fire coursed through 
the veins of Lionello. Like one possessed, he was trans- 
ported with rage : he ground his teeth, snuffed quick 
and fiercely, wheeled on his foot, raised the child in his 
arms and dashed out its brains on the deck. Then, with 
a kick, he threw the quivering body into the sea. The 
mother, at this barbarous deed, which was executed in a 
few seconds, uttered a piercing shriek, and, with a 
bound and outstretched arms, leaped into the waves. 
Lionello, thunderstruck, stood rooted to the spot, with 
a fixed, affrighted gaze. The wind was blowing a gale, 
and the ship flew through the tumultuous waters. 

“ When he recovered from his stupor, he ordered the 
ship to heave to, and all the boats to be launched, under 
the pretence that Isabella had fallen overboard acci- 
dentally. But the wind was so fresh that the vessel 
made great headway, though the sails were lowered ; 
and she had run several knots before they could man 
the boats. Consequently, the hapless Isabella had dis- 
appeared. The heart of the truculent corsair was a 
prey to unceasing pangs of love, despair, and remorse. 
Alone, taciturn, haggard, he walked the deck. Officers 
and men were afraid to accost him. He refused food 


296 


LIONELLO. 


and drink. Sleep deserted his eyes, and a fierce deli- 
rium devoured his soul. One morning he went to the 
caboose, and the mate, who was lying in his hammock 
at the end of the gangway, raised his head at the sound 
of steps, and saw Lionello take a bucket of charcoal, 
empty it into his handkerchief, and return to the cabin. 
He paid little attention to the matter at the time, — lay 
down again, and went to sleep. 

" Lionello shut himself up in a state-room, and gave 
orders to one of the watch to let no one disturb him on 
any account. The man, after a while, heard sounds as 
of a person blowing a coal-pan. At breakfast-time the 
officers asked for the captain. The answer was, he was 
in his state-room. They waited a while, and gave a 
second signal for the meal. But, as he did not appear, 
the first officer said to the sentinel, — 

" ' Knock at the door.’ 

" ‘I have orders/ he replied, 'to call him for no one.’ 

‘"Well/ rejoined the officer, 'I have no orders; and, 
if I can’t knock, I can at least call him : — " Captain ! 
Captain !’ 

"No answer. The officer, meanwhile, went down to 
the door, and, placing his ear against it, thought he 
heard a groan. Then he exclaimed, 'But there is a 
smell, through the chinks, of something burning.’ 

"Then they disregarded the prohibition, knocked 
loudly at the door, and at last burst it open. At the 
same moment a volume of smoke poured out, which 
almost suffocated them, and obliged them to fall back 
in order to get breath. They found Lionello stretched 
on his bed, pale, ghastly, lifeless. The boatswain, who 
was an old, experienced sailor, took Lionello in his arms 
and carried him on deck. He ran for a small bellows, 


ISABELLA. 


297 

and, putting the nozzle in the pirate’s mouth, whilst he 
closed his nostrils, he began to infuse air into the lungs. 
Then, having unbuttoned his clothes and opened the 
shirt, he directed the breast and legs to be rubbed 
smartly and stimulated with a bottle of ether. 

“Lionello moved at last, aroused by these remedial 
agents. He opened his eyes, and looked around him 
with an air of astonishment.” 

“ That is exceedingly fine, indeed,” said Alisa. “ This 
desperate pirate is persistent in evil, in spite of his 
remorse and despair. For my part, I consider a man 
a coward who cannot overcome himself, and who, to 
escape the combat with his perverse nature, commits 
suicide.” 

“ You are right,” said Don Baldassare. “It is only 
by a sincere conversion to God that the sinner can 
break his vicious habits and struggle manfully against 
his passions. The true Christian supports poverty, 
labor, oppression, with resolution, — sometimes with 
cheerfulness ; but the impious man is obdurate in crime 
or crushed by despair. Despair, by means of self- 
murder, rids him of remorse and saves him from human 
justice. It is a wide-spread practice in the world, per- 
fected among the Japanese into an art. Some have 
noted all the symptoms of asphyxia, analyzed the pro- 
portions of azote and carbon, measured the retarded 
current of the blood which stagnates in the heart, un- 
able to open the valves and diffuse itself through the 
ordinary channels. Others devise a speedy exit, and 
take a lump of sugar saturated with prussic acid. 
Others, again, inhale chloroform, and, in an exhilarated 
state, plunge into hell. The larger number put a 
pistol into their mouths and blow out their brains.” 


298 


LIONELLO. 


“The last we have witnessed in Lionello at Geneva/’ 
said Alisa. “ Miserable young man ! But what be- 
came of him after the capture of his ship and his 
escape among the Sandwich Islands ?” 


CHAPTER XXV. 

JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 

“As I stated before,” continued Mimo, “Lionello 
represented himself as a shipwrecked mariner. He 
clothed his tale with a thousand falsehoods to excite 
compassion. The English governor gave him a kind 
reception, and furnished him and his companions with 
passports. He embarked on board of the first vessel 
which sailed for the Atlantic, and landed at Buenos 
Ayres. 

“ This large and handsome sea-port, the capital of 
the Argentine Republic, stands at the mouth of the Rio 
de la Plata. Several sections of the city are almost 
entirely occupied by Italian merchants, and are there- 
fore designated the Genoese Quarters. Whole families 
emigrate from Genoa, and spend years in Buenos Ayres, 
trading with the people of Uruguay, Parana, Rio Dulce, 
Rio Colorado, even of Rio Nigro. They sell oranges 
and pastries, which they ship to Chili, Peru, Bolivia, 
and Colombia. When Lionello reached Buenos Ayres, 
Rosas was Governor of the Argentine Republic. He 
had just declared war against the Oriental Republic, 
whose principal city is Montevideo. Rosas ascribed 


JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 


299 


the war to the pride of the Orientals, who, as a con- 
federate state, ought, like Tucuman and the provinces 
of Uruguay and Parana, to acknowledge the President 
of Buenos Ayres as their supreme chief, since under 
the Spanish dominion the entire country was subject 
to the Viceroy of La Plata. Montevideo rejoined that 
they never were Spaniards ; that they had been sub- 
jects of Brazil; that, to assert their independence, they 
had cast off the Portuguese yoke; that consequently 
they had no relations to the viceroy. Bosas, as Presi- 
dent of the Argentine Bepublic, had arrogated the pre- 
rogatives of a king, and tyrannized over the confederate 
states from Corrientes to San Antonio ; that is, from 
Paraguay to Patagonia. If the other states were dis- 
posed to do him homage, they could act as they pleased ; 
but the Oriental Bepublic would never submit to his 
despotic sway : it would maintain its independence at 
all hazard. 

“Montevideo had justice on its side; but the answers 
which it gave to Bosas were dictated, in a great mea- 
sure, by the Italian refugees. These traitors, banished 
from their country, which in 1831 they had stirred into 
revolt, had come to sow cockle on the hospitable shores 
of America, which had imprudently given them a wel- 
come. Like serpents benumbed by the cold, they 
began to pierce the bosom of the benefactor that warmed 
them into life. The principal agitators were Joseph 
Garibaldi, Joseph Borzone de Chiavari, Valerga, and 
Anzani, with other Ligurians and exiles from Leghorn 
and Bomagna, who belonged to Young Italy. They 
actively fanned the flames of discord, and exasperated 
the more influential citizens of Montevideo against 
Oribe, President of the republic, under the pretext that 


300 


LIONELLO. 


he secretly favored the claims of Rosas, his intimate 
friend. They succeeded in having him proclaimed a 
traitor and sent into banishment. At the moment 
when the war occupied men’s minds, time, and energies 
when Oribe was besieging Montevideo with a consider- 
able fleet, Lionello landed at Buenos Ayres. By cer- 
tain signs he discovered the companions of Garibaldi, 
who were secret spies on the conduct and plan of 
Rosas.” 

“ That is excellent !” exclaimed Alisa. “What a charm- 
ing meeting ! V ery likely they soon scented one another. ’ ' 

“ Oh, certainly. I have no doubt that a Carbonarist, 
entering an inn in which afellow-Carbonarist had stopped 
two days before, could find it out by the odor which he 
left behind him. They partake of the nature of the fox 
and hound, inasmuch as they give and follow a scent. 
They single each other out of a crowd with a mutual 
and easy recognition. They seem to have magnets in 
their eyes, and peculiar exhalations from the hair and 
pores of the body. They have signs, marks, singu- 
larities of voice and pronunciation, motions of the eye- 
brows, modes of walking, blowing their noses, crossing 
their arms, buttoning their coats, turning their heads, 
taking a seat, holding a cigar in their mouth or fingers, 
peeling fruit, drinking, clinking glasses, holding a fork, 
— which compose a complete vocabulary of signs. 

“ I have often amused myself with watching them in 
the railroad-depots, on the decks of steamers, in the 
travelling-coaches, at the public table in hotels, where 
they carry on with their eyes a regular conversation, 
though they are total strangers. Even the Abbe 
d’Epde, inventor of the deaf-mutes’ language, did not 
approach this refined art. 


JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 


301 

“But,” continued Mimo, addressing himself to Alisa, 
“when Lionello learned that Garibaldi, with his band 
of French and Italian exiles and adventurers, was fo- 
menting a war, he conceived a lively desire to signalize 
himself. He made inquiries of some secret satellites 
of the hero of Montevideo, (this was the name given to 
Garibaldi,) sold some jewels, — the fruits of his piracies, 
— and bought a ship for himself and his filibusters. 
Montevideo is situated opposite Buenos Ayres, on the 
northern shore of the Bio la Plata. He made arrange- 
ments with a Genoese pilot, and quitted the port, under 
the pretext of buying hides in the Pampas. When he 
had reached Soriano, he wound his way from gulf to 
gulf, from harbor to harbor, till at last he entered a 
small port of the Banda Oriental. He landed, and 
thence, without difficulty, passed through the lines of 
defence drawn round Montevideo, and gave himself up, 
body and soul, to Garibaldi.” 

“Ah ! now we have, arm in arm, the brave AEneas 
and the faithful Achates ,” said Alisa, with a sarcastic 
smile. “I see in advance how Lionello and Garibaldi 
made a close alliance, and concerted the measures to 
uphold the glorious destinies of Borne. Mercury unites 
with Mars in the sign Capricorn; and to this conjunc- 
tion we owe the gentle sway of the Bed Bepublic ! How 
fortunate are those people who are born under this glo- 
rious constellation!” 

“You are quite sparkling with wit, my good cousin,” 
said Landro ; “ but wait a bit. The prodigies which 
Lionello reports of this god Mars will put to flight 
your satirical humor.” 

“Ah, indeed? Well, Mimo, tell us all about these 
prodigies; for until now I have pictured Garibaldi to 
26 


302 


LIONELLO. 


myself as a pirate on land and sea, who carries fire and 
sword in every quarter, sheds torrents of blood with 
his murderous hands, withers, ravages, consumes, every 
thing he puts his tiger eyes upon ; a wretch, in a word, 
whose breath infects every thing with the poison of 
conspiracies and revolts.” 

“Iam afraid,” said Bartolo, “that the eulogies, plau- 
dits, enthusiasm of Lionello will not modify your 
opinion and prepossess you in favor of his hero: 
nevertheless, even amid many vices, we see displayed, 
at times, characteristics of a great soul, which, in pro- 
portion to its original nobleness and capabilities of 
doing good, is the more pernicious and formidable in 
its perversion.” 

“Lionello,” resumed Mimo, “represents Garibaldi in 
a favorable light. He is, according to his account, a 
man of medium size, compactly built, and rather spare, 
but endowed with great muscular strength and extra- 
ordinary activity. This assemblage of qualities likens 
him to the lion. He unites vigor with agility, veils a 
fiery eye with a subdued look, moderates with clemency 
the emotions of a fierce spirit, and, to complete the 
similitude, he wears his long white hair reaching to the 
shoulders, and a red beard. His forehead is broad, his 
physiognomy grave and stern when first presented to 
the eye, but, on closer inspection, open, serene, and 
generous, — capable of inspiring respect, confidence, and 
sympathy.” 

“That is to say,” interrupted Alisa, “the sympathy 
which we feel for the lion, who, after having devoured 
his victim, retires, tranquil and gorged, into his forest 
den. Young Italy will always inspire us with this kind 
of sympathy.” 


JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 


303 


“ Don’t allow yourself to be prejudiced against Him 
by bis brilliant and penetrating eye : consider rather 
his character. Lionello presents him as the type of 
nobleness, candor, refinement, magnanimity. Music 
exercises a tranquillizing power over his soul, and 
poetry proves him, in his odes to Italy, equal to Pindar, 
by his bold and sublime flights. He is Alcibiades, 
whose sword prostrates barbarians, whose pen chants 
the prowess and triumphs of Greece; consecrating his 
reason to the study of philosophy, and his heart unre- 
servedly to the love of liberty. The comparison ex- 
tends no further. He leaves to Alcibiades, as sole pos- 
sessor, his wild and unrestrained spirit, impetuous, in- 
constant, proud, and obstinate.” 

“Such qualities,” said Don Baldassare, “must make a 
good soldier or an assassin. But Garibaldi, like his pro- 
totype, persists in upholding everywhere the maxim of 
the ruffian and the pirate : The end sanctifies the means.” 

“According to Lionello’s account,” continued Mimo, 
“ Garibaldi, from his earliest youth, was a promoter of 
secret societies. After having completed his studies at 
Nice, his native city, he entered the merchant-service, 
and, like his countrymen, who are the bravest and 
most skilful navigators in the world, became a hardy 
and intrepid sailor. Lionello tells us that he sailed to 
the Levant and the Black Sea. He entered several of 
the Italian ports, and once, whilst the ship was lying 
in dock, he visited Home. The sight of the imperial 
city made a profound impression on his heart.” 

“If I mistake not,” said Bartolo, “Borne has received 
a far deeper impression from his visit. He admired, 
then, its villas of unrivalled beauty, with the magnifi- 
cent palaces, statues, vases, paintings, rarer and more 


304 


LIONELLO. 


precious than those of the richest museums. In the 
villa Panfili, beyond the Janiculum, at the Porta San 
Pancrazio, Garibaldi was charmed with the laurel 
alleys, nenuphars, fountains, gardens, copses, lawns, 
conservatories filled with rare exotics, casinos for re- 
freshments, knolls with lovely perspectives, little grottos, 
antique statues, fish-ponds, orchards ; in fine, with the 
palaces, splendidly adorned with marbles, arras, frescos, 
stuccos, gildings, and basso-relievos. In the midst of 
these wonders, the astonished youth exclaimed, 1 Oh ! 
well art thou called the villa BelrespiroT At his 
second visit, Garibaldi pitched his camp on that very 
spot. His soldiers cut down the trees, Jbrampled on the 
flower-beds, broke the green-house vases and windows, 
choked the fountains and ponds with rubbish ; mutilated 
the statues and busts, tore the tapestries, the velvet 
and damask hangings, the window and bed curtains, 
destroyed the gilt bronze mouldings of the doors, side- 
boards, and brackets; gashed the paintings of the best 
masters, defaced the rich stuccos, tables, sofas, burned the 
casements and the balconies, with their superb ornaments. 
The villa Pinciana, belonging to Prince Borghese, opened 
its doors to Garibaldi, when, with a soul full of poetic 
enthusiasm and the fair images of youth, he found in 
this palace the subject of a sublime poem. Pastoral 
and agricultural scenes, the refinement and grace of 
city homes united with the grandeur and magnificence 
of a royal court ; meadows and cabins, fertile fields and 
turfed huts, aged forests and charming bosquets, trenches, 
cascades, reservoirs, paddocks, picturesque glens, sunny 
swards, shady retreats with grottos and caverns; avi- 
aries where birds of every species built their nests, 
warbled, saluted with melodious strains the rising and 


JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 


305 


setting sun; theatres, amphitheatres, enclosures for 
tournaments and jousts, pistol and fencing galleries, 
hippodromes for equestrian exercises; pasture-lands, 
cow-houses, dairies for butter and cheese, kennels for 
hounds, terriers, bull-dogs, and mastiffs. Look at those 
admirable structures, arches, bridges, and, above all, the 
palaces themselves, where art rivals nature in her rich 
materials ; the galleries of antique sculptures, bas-reliefs, 
inscriptions, medals, bronzes, cameos, intaglios, collec- 
tions of the best works of Italian and foreign schools. 
Remember that these monuments are hut the mute 
representatives of the munificence of the Roman princes. 
The villa Pinciana is open to the peasant, citizen, 
stranger. Morning or afternoon, they are at liberty 
to visit its apartments, promenade, examine, and rest 
themselves.” 

“Thus, dear uncle,” said Lando, “you did not fail, 
when you were young, to enjoy these pleasures of the 
villa. I have been told that, as one of the best horse- 
men of your time, you shared freely in the equestrian 
exercises.” 

“What delightful pastimes we had there! Prince 
Marcantonio, during the first days of October, enter- 
tained the Roman people with games and fetes in the 
theatre, hippodrome, joust-enclosures. The sports were 
varied; the spectacle brilliant and charming.” 

“ But this same Garibaldi, on his second visit to Rome, 
herded with the vilest of the populace. Now he desired 
only to see wrecks and ruins. He ordered all those chefs 
d oeuvre to be destroyed which had served to gratify 
the people and win their admiration. I recently re- 
ceived letters from Rome which state that the villa 
Borghese is a heap of ruins, the theatre ravaged by 
26 * 


306 


LIONELLO. 


fire and the hands of robbers. Garibaldi, during his 
imprisonment at Gualaguay in Entrerios, thus chants 
over the fate of Italy : — 

‘ Give me the rather to see her lands a waste, 

Her princely palaces in ruin strewn, 

Than look upon her queenly form abased, 

A craven ’neath the rod of Vandals grown.’ 


“ Since tne days of Genseric, no Vandals have proved 
more terrible to Rome than the followers of Garibaldi 
and Mazzini. Had they tyrannized over Italy a while 
longer, they would indeed have converted her lands 
into a waste and crushed her palaces in ruin ; they 
would have overthrown her temples and altars, assas- 
sinated her priests, massacred or exiled the best and 
noblest of her sons. And they have the effrontery to 
denounce the Croat and call him a Vandal ! The Croat 
embellished Venice, Brescia, Milan, — all the cities, 
indeed, of Venetia and Lombardy, and our modern 
Scipios have conferred upon us the excellent govern- 
ment to which you are no strangers.” 

“Oh, what a crime!” exclaimed Alisa. “My dear 
villa Borghese, where, in the spring, we went every 
morning with Polissena to cull violets and lilies of the 
valley! Were I in the prince’s place, I would punish 
those ungrateful Romans by excluding them from the 
gardens, which afforded him no other benefit than 
the pleasure of gratifying them. Oh, the barbarians ! 
I would turn my grounds into hay, corn, and oat fields, 
and thus, to their cost, fill my coffers with money.” 

“Very well, my little lady merchant,” said Lando: 
“ I will tell that to Sister Clara. Do you not think this 
noble prince will do better to requite the base envy of 


JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 307 

these miserable creatures with a constant magnanimity? 
He is assured that the authors of this havoc and van- 
dalism are not Bomans, but robbers, pickpockets, and 
swindlers.” 

“But,” continued Bartolo, “to return to the first 
visit of the young Garibaldi. He found the villa Albani 
and the villa Patrizi very charming. On his second 
visit he had so far forgotten these early impressions 
that, as commander-in-chief, under pretence of im- 
peding the approaches or operations of the besiegers, 
he gave his consent, perhaps orders, to the most des- 
perate brigands of Borne, to level, at the villa Albani, 
the palace of the gallery of paintings and its dependen- 
cies, where the Cardinal Alessandro had collected so 
many master-pieces, of Grecian and Boman art. But 
the fulness of his wrath was expended on the villa 
Patrizi. Thither, by the Porta Pia, you often went 
for recreation. You may recall that superb palace, so 
beautifully constructed; its frescos and numberless 
paintings ; its rich marbles, elegant decorations, costly 
furniture, and pervading opulence ; the meadows, 
groves, parterres, and fountains. Aldobrando writes to 
me that these barbarians for three days fired at the 
palace with heavy artillery, that they despatched a 
legion of scouts, who destroyed the main walls, and 
with their axes and pikes ruined and demolished it 
completely. Where ordinary instruments were unavail- 
ing, they employed fire ; so that now there is only a 
mass of ruins. You see, then, Alisa, that Borne will 
retain a deep and lively impression of this second and 
present visit of Garibaldi. But Mimo is going to con- 
vince you that he leaves this same profound impression 
wherever he puts his foot.” 


308 


LIONELLO. 


“It is only too true,” responded Mimo. “On his 
return to Nice, after his voyage in the Levant, he 
repeated to his young townsmen the lessons which he 
had learned from the Piedmontese Caluzzo and other 
refugees at the court of the Sultan, — most of them Car- 
bonarists of 1821. He had, moreover, fine opportuni- 
ties of completing his education in the great school of 
conspiracies in Greece, whose cities he visited in detail. 
He there became acquainted with many of the monarchs 
and princes of Nauplia, Idria, Patras, Mistra, Tripolizza, 
and Athens. Every time he landed at Villafranca, 
Onelia, Alassio, and Monaco, he was studious to sow, 
in the Italian youths whom he met, the seeds of the 
revolutionary spirit against the tyrant of Savoy, the 
King of Sardinia. But, Charles Albert having tied 
the hands of several of these factious disturbers of the 
peace, Garibaldi found he was no longer in the odor 
of sanctity in his own country. He embarked for the 
Levant, and went to Taganrog, where he found the 
believer , who enrolled him under the banner of Young 
Italy. 

“ ' Never/ said Lionello , 1 never did a man labor more 
conscientiously to accomplish his oath.’ ” 

“A noble oath, indeed!” exclaimed Bartolo, — “which 
is equivalent to a positive violation of loyalty, justice, 
friendship, and all holiest obligations.” 

“ Beassured by his brethren that he was unsuspected 
by the Sardinian Government, he returned to Genoa, 
and, to betray his sovereign more effectually, he en- 
tered the royal navy as a volunteer, and strove to 
corrupt the non-commissioned officers, midshipmen, and 
sailors.” 

“I would like to know,” said Alisa, “by what name 


JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 


309 


the Carbonari designate this perfidy. They regard 
true Christians as poor and mean-spirited creatures, 
cowards, and traitors. They take to themselves ex- 
clusively, the merit of being generous, noble, frank, 
and loyal. What kind of loyalty is that which creeps 
into the service of a master to seduce his family, 
excite his servants against him, rob him of his goods, 
and expel him from his property? 

“Lionello tells us himself that several members of 
the secret society had introduced themselves into the 
palace of the Duke of Modena, the Duchess of Parma, 
the King of Naples, and the King of Sardinia; that 
they occupied eminent posts, as ministers, judges, ad- 
ministrators, secretaries, police-officers, in order to use 
the reins of government for their own interests, spy out 
the intentions of their sovereigns, and, underhandedly, 
thwart their plans. This espionage is, in their eyes, a 
sacred duty. But let an honest man unveil their trea- 
cherous conduct, and he is denounced as a villain, 
worthy of condign punishment ; and, indeed, he will be 
pursued and mercilessly jpunished, unless God defend 
him against poison and poignard.” 

“Your indignation,” observed Mimo, “is natural and 
just. Garibaldi boasted he had watched so sharply 
the proceedings of the Admiralty that he merited the 
applause of Young Italy, without compromising him- 
self in the eyes of the authorities. This is the system 
of our present race of heroes. They inveigle youths 
into the hazardous plots of their conspiracies, and, when 
their victims are fairly involved, the leaders prudently 
retire, and vanish.” 

“This is a double perfidy,” added Don Baldassare. 
“ Garibaldi in this very enterprise gave us a specimen 


310 


LIONELLO. 


of his future achievements. You will notice, signora, 
that he is exceedingly expert in finding holes in his 
armor through which he can worm himself and escape 
the hands of justice; whilst the poor goslings are 
caught who were fools enough to let him thrust them 
into the trap. 

“He crawled, like a cat, between the legs of the 
carabineers. 

“Governor Paolucci discovered the conspiracy which 
was to break out at Genoa on the night of the 3d of 
January, 1834, to second the movements of Mazzini, 
in the invasion of Savoy by Ramorino. He ordered a 
number of the conspirators to be seized. Garibaldi 
found that no time was to be lost. By doubling, he 
contrived to secrete himself in the house of a poor 
widow, who gave him a workman’s dress. He crossed 
the river, slept a good part of the night in the snow, 
and journeyed on, stopping at cabins from time to 
time to beg a piece of bread. After untold hardships 
and miseries, he reached Nice, and, in his father’s 
house, put on suitable clothing. He tore himself from 
the arms of his distressed parents, passed the Varo 
secretly, and took refuge in France. Here, our writer 
says, 'he looked back on the waters of the Varo, and 
was deeply moved at the sight of his native land, to 
which he felt a livelier and profounder devotion, which 
was to last as long as life.’ ” 

“A strange kind of devotion!” exclaimed Bartolo. 
“Albano, Velletri, Terracina, Ceccano, Ferentino, 
Anagni, Alatri, and other outraged places understand it 
thoroughly. They have seen their churches despoiled, 
their houses pillaged or burned, their bishops expelled, 
their priests exiled, and numbers of the citizens im- 


JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 


311 


prisoned and even slain. But Borne, especially, has 
enjoyed the benefits of his patriotic devotion, and is 
even now enjoying it, whilst the French are besieging 
the city and on the point of entering it. Borne pal- 
pitates with anxiety in the last embraces of Garibaldi. 
He gives her savory and noisy kisses, which she will 
have reason to deplore for years to come. 

“ Louis Philippe knew the full worth of these heroes. 
He scattered them about his kingdom ; and Garibaldi 
he assigned to Draguignan. But our red-hot Carbon- 
arist could not breathe freely in so limited a space. 
One fine night he disappeared, fled to Marseilles, and 
got himself entered as an officer on board of a vessel 
recently bought by the Bey of Tunis. At Marseilles 
he performed a gallant and generous action; for he 
had good qualities, and if he had not been perverted 
by secret societies he might have signalized himself by 
great deeds. Standing on his ship, he heard a great 
noise, and observed a large crowd on the mole, extend- 
ing their arms and crying for help. Garibaldi looked, 
and perceived a young man who had fallen between 
the vessels. In the busy throng of sailors, none seemed 
disposed to rescue him. Garibaldi plunged into the 
water, reached the young man, and carried him safely 
to the shore, amid the applauding shouts of the spec- 
tators. 

“ Whilst the crowd gathered round the young man, 
Garibaldi disappeared. The family, which was one of 
the most respectable of the city, for a long time sought 
their benefactor in vain. When, at length, they found him 
and tendered him many tokens of their gratitude, he 
pressed their hands, declined their proffers, and escaped 
from all the demonstrations of their friendly feelings. 


312 


LIONELLO. 


Another time, when he was walking on the strand 
between Nice and Villafranca, he saw a boat filled with 
young people on a pleasure-excursion. A flaw of wind 
struck the sail, which the inexperienced youths could 
not lower, and the boat was on the point of foun- 
dering. Garibaldi flung himself into the sea and saved 
them. 

“ One day, in the port of Rio Janeiro, the sea was so 
rough that .the ships ran afoul of each other, and there 
was fear that they would part their cables. A poor 
negro fell overboard. People screamed and clapped 
their hands. The unfortunate fellow was seen tossed 
about by the foaming waves ; and no one was daring 
enough to attempt to save his life by risking his own 
between the struggling vessels. Garibaldi, without 
demur, plunged into the sea, seized the drowning 
man, and bore him to the shore.” 

“That is admirable!” exclaimed Alisa: “I am de- 
lighted to hear such noble deeds ; and my delight would 
be perfect if he had always obeyed the generous im- 
pulses of his heart.” 

“Be persuaded, signora,” said Don Baldassare, “that 
most of these misguided youths, members of secret 
societies, were endued by nature with kind and amiable 
qualities. Some are obliged to do violence to their own 
hearts in pursuing their cruel career ; and this is often 
illustrated by the memoirs of Lionello. Lionello 
accuses himself of having, in a transport of brutal 
passion, murdered the child of Isabella. After that day 
he can no longer look on a child without weeping. 
When he chances to see these innocent creatures gam- 
bolling about their mothers, he turns away from the 
sight with a lacerated and agonizing heart. How 


JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 


313 




strangely fashioned is the heart of man ! Garibaldi risks 
his life a hundred times to save his fellow-men; and 
then, actuated by the spirit of Young Italy, he massacres 
thousands of worthy citizens who stand up in defence 
of their legitimate sovereigns, stirs up subjects against 
their authority, surrenders loyal cities to fire and 
sword and pillage. He is infuriated against peaceful 
and loyal citizens, and renders himself a terror and 
abomination to all good people." 

“ See him now," added Mimo, — “see him now at Rio 
Janeiro. An exile from Italy, he escapes from France 
into Africa, and at length, in 1831, takes refuge in 
Brazil, where he was hospitably received. He forms 
there a partnership with the Genoese, Luigi Rossetti, 
and, aided by some charitable persons, charters a 
merchantman. As a coaster, he ships goods from Rio 
Janeiro to Cape Frio. But Garibaldi, born for the 
stormy life of revolution, soon grows discontented with 
this modest profession. At Cape Frio, on the 27th of 
December, 1836, he wrote to his fellow-conspirator, 
Giambattista Cuneo, 1 1 am heartily tired of this de- 
grading trade, and of a life so useless to my country. 
Be assured, we are destined for great deeds : we are out 
of our element.’ " 

“The element of the members of Young Italy," 
scornfully remarked the good Bartolo, “ is the bloody 
sea of conspiracies, treasons, revolts, insurrections, civil 
wars. In this element they are suffocated with rage 
and ambition, or they live accursed of God and men.” 

“ Garibaldi would have been unworthy of Young Italy, 
if he had not requited by some fine acts of treachery the 
hospitality extended to him by the Brazilian Government. 
Thus, when the province of Rio Grande, at the instiga- 
27 


314 


LIONELLO. 


tion of the Italian refugees, directed by Livio Zambec- 
cari, revolted against the emperor and proclaimed itself 
a republic, Garibaldi offered his services to the general 
of the insurgents, Bento Gonzales da Silva.* He joined 
Zambeccari and Rossetti, and with their combined 
labors armed a privateer, left Rio Janeiro under the 
flag of the republic, and began to give chase to Bra- 
zilian vessels. Their first act was to attack a mer- 
chantman, seize it, and hoist the banner of Rio Grande. 
With these vessels they hoped to indulge their patriotic 
enthusiasm; but they got sight of the imperial squadron. 
They immediately tacked about, and made for Port 
Maldonado, in the Oriental Republic, which they fancied 
to be friendly and favorable to their projects. They 
were driven out as robbers. Thence they steered 
toward Montevideo, and sent one of their party to 


* Livio Zambeccari, a Bolognese, — like Lionello, the scion of a noble 
family, — is a most determined Carbonarist. Implicated in the rebel- 
lion of 1831, he was obliged, after many fruitless attempts to revolu- 
tionize parts of Italy, to withdraw to Brazil. There, with other 
Italian refugees, he labored to sever Rio Grande from the empire. 
Subsequently he returned to his own country, and stirred up Romagna 
against the Pope. In 1848, he was the first man, at the head of a 
corps of bandits, to cross the frontier and battle against Austria. 
During the misrule of the Roman Republic, he became notorious for 
his acts of cruelty. When Rome was captured by the French, he 
fled to Athens. There he met, among some fellow-conspirators, Giacomo 
Piantelli, who was imprudent enough, among other charges, to accuse 
Zambeccari of rapine. The latter employed some Roman assassins, 
fugitives from justice, to dispatch him. One of them, aided by his 
patron, succeeded in reaching Turkey ; two others, Federico Ircassi 
and Tommaso Cimatti, natives of Faenza, were apprehended, and, as 
we learn by letters from Athens, dated June 11, 1852, condemned to 
death by the tribunals of that city, — as reported in the Roman Journal , 
June 25. 


JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 


315 


announce their arrival. The answer was the sailing of 
an armed vessel to capture them. An engagement 
ensued. Garibaldi received a musket-ball in the neck, 
and fell. The rebels, seeing him bathed in his blood, 
took to flight. Aided by a favorable wind, they crowded 
sail, and, after a hot pursuit, escaped into the port of 
Gualeguay. Unluckily for them, the peasants recog- 
nised neither the passports nor flag of Rio Grande, 
which had rebelled against the emperor. They con- 
fiscated the ships and imprisoned the crews. 

“ Garibaldi, dangerously wounded, received the kindest 
attentions from the surgeon, Ramor Delarea. The 
doctor extracted the ball, which had penetrated the 
neck and lodged under the left ear. After his cure, he 
was left on parole in the house of Andrews, who 
treated him as a friend rather than a prisoner. But 
the honor of conspirators is on a par with the oaths 
of secret societies. Garibaldi was summoned by the 
government of Entrerios to Bajada, the capital. In- 
stead of obeying, he tried to make his escape. But he 
was seized and thrown into prison, as a violator of his 
pledged word. There he was confined eight months. 
Restored to liberty, he renewed his attempt, and re- 
joined the rebels of Rio Grande. 

“ Imagine the transports of joy with which they 
welcomed so gallant and devoted an ally. He was 
feted especially by the Italian refugees, Zambeccari, 
Borzone, Anzani, Rossetti, and Montru. The two last 
were soon to fall dead at his side. The rebels of Rio 
Grande gave to Garibaldi the command of their little 
fleet on the Laguna de los Patos. He added some ships 
and brigantines, exercised the crews in handling the 
sails and in the use of muskets, swords, and pikes; 


316 


LIONELLO. 


he, above all, reanimated the zeal of the Italians 
gathered around him. Garibaldi succeeded so well 
that in a fight at Camacuan with Morigue, a Brazilian 
captain, who commanded one hundred and twenty men, 
he made head with his eleven Italians against these 
heavy odds; slew a large number of the enemy, and 
put the rest to flight. When he was complimented for 
this feat by Bio Grande, he haughtily replied, ‘ One free- 
man is a match for ten slaves.’ On another occasion 
he made an assault on the fortress which commands 
Bio Grande. Garibaldi and Bossetti sprang on the 
artillerymen, clung to them, and would have forced 
their way into the place, had they been bravely 
seconded by their followers. 

“ He attempted also to revolutionize the province of 
Santa Catharina against the Emperor of Brazil. He 
seized the port of Laguna, armed three schooners, and 
began to pirate along the coast. He attacked and 
robbed all the merchant-vessels which traded at this 
port. Assailed, at length, by a Brazilian brigantine, 
he took refuge in a creek, and, availing himself of a 
very dark night, glided by the side of his enemy, with 
incredible hardihood, and almost unexpected success. 
On his return to Laguna, he married a young woman 
of the place, named Anita. She was his faithful and 
inseparable companion in the divers vicissitudes of his 
life. She followed him to Borne, and fought at his 
side. Like the Creoles of the tropics, she was of small 
and active figure and ardent temperament. Her re- 
markable physiognomy was shaded by melancholy ; her 
eyes were sparkling, her bust as large as a man’s. 
The nuptial guests were the imperial ships which came 
to besiege him in Laguna; the nuptial music, the roar- 


JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 


317 

ing of cannon and the bursting of shells. In his 
defence, Garibaldi, accompanied by Anita, made extra- 
ordinary efforts. When he saw the defeat of his men, 
he sprang with his bride into a boat, and set fire to his 
vessels. He had scarcely reached the shore when 
they blew up, and the burning fragments did consider- 
able injury to the enemy's ships. Trusting no longer 
to the treacherous sea, Garibaldi tried his fortunes on 
land. He formed his rebel forces into columns, and 
kept up the campaign by harassing the Brazilians. 
He engaged in a sanguinary fight at Lages, in the 
ardor of which his wife was made prisoner. Learning 
from other prisoners that her husband had, like a lion, 
battled anew to save her, and perished on the field, 
she neither wept nor moaned, but at midnight bounded 
away like a roe, under the very eyes of her guards 
and the sentinels, and at break of day reached the 
scene of conflict. She anxiously searched for his body 
among the dead; she examined the corpses one by one; 
and, reassured at length, she raised her hands to heaven 
and thanked God for his escape. For two days and 
two nights she wandered in forests and deserts; and 
finally, on the third night, at the sight of the camp- 
fires of Bio Grande, she hastened to cast herself into 
her husband’s arms, who had been hopeless of her re- 
turn. 

“Amid the clashing of arms they had a son, Ho 
whom,’ says our Mazzinian author, ‘inspired by the 
reverence which he cherished for the patriots who had 
died in the cause of Italy, Garibaldi gave the sacred 
name of Menotti.’ ” 

“Yes,” exclaimed Don Baldassare, 11 sacred as the 
French sometimes apply the epithet ; sacred, too, in the 
27 * 


318 


LIONELLO. 


Latin sense : auri sacra fames. Mark how these con- 
spirators counterfeit the conduct of the Church. As 
Cardinal Mezzofanti remarked to Bartolo, ‘ they have 
their sacraments, rites, sacrifices, saints, and martyrs’. 
Rejoice, illustrious Modena, at the birth of so eminent 
a saint ! Erect altars to Geminiano, and confide in the 
intercession of Menotti ! Let a new Countess Matilda 
arise and erect a temple in honor of the new patron ; 
a basilic to the martyr Menotti ! Let it occupy the 
ground of the house where he planned numerous con- 
spiracies, assembled a band of traitors, uttered countless 
blasphemies, and treacherously fired at his prince who 
loved and protected him ; furnished him with capital to 
engage in business, and on the very night of his treason 
offered him a pardon. Thus the monk Gavazzi pro- 
nounced lately at Rome the panegyric of the Garibal- 
dian martyrs who fell at the Porta San Pancrazio, — 
victims of their hatred and rage against the Holy See 
and the august person of the Vicar of Christ !” 

At this tirade the company could not forbear laugh- 
ing, and Mimo said, jocosely, — 

“ I doubt much whether Garibaldi has any desire to 
be enrolled in the martyrology. He is impetuous and 
rash; but he prefers the office of a confessor of the 
Church. He never fails to find an escape from difficul- 
ties, an outlet to creep from the greatest dangers. 

“At Rio Grande, in 1841, after the discomfiture of 
Cima da Serra, he decamped with his wife and child, 
abandoned his companions to their fate, and arrived at 
Montevideo. President Oribe had been expelled from 
that city, and Rosas was asserting his claim to its 
homage. The war was fiercely carried on against the 
Argentine Republic. Garibaldi, to support himself and 


JOSEPH GARIBALDI. 


319 


family, was obliged to teach algebra and geometry at 
the college. In a short time, however, the citizens 
became aware of his military qualifications ; and they 
gave him the command of a sloop of war, a brigantine, 
and a schooner. 

“With this little squadron he sailed to Corrientes, 
in Parana, in order to co-operate with the confederates 
against Rosas. He distinguished himself at the passage 
of the island of Martin Garcia, at the mouth of the 
river. He worked his vessel so skilfully, and his guns 
so effectually, that at every discharge he dismounted 
some of the enemy’s pieces. After a fortunate escape 
from his perilous position, he had to struggle against 
the sand-banks. As he approached the Goya shore 
he got into shoal water and ran aground. There the 
Argentine fleet found him. Admiral Brown, seeing 
the helpless condition of the Oriental vessels, promised 
himself an easy prey. But he met so stout a resistance 
for the space of three days that he did not venture to 
board. The supply of shot gave out, but Garibaldi was 
not disconcerted. He ordered the links of the anchor- 
chains to be broken in pieces, and employed them and 
every particle of iron or bronze he found in the ships. 
At length his ammunition was exhausted. He em- 
barked his crews in boats, laid a long train of powder 
to the magazines, fired it, and jumped into a launch. 
The fleet was blown into the air ; and the explosion did 
immense mischief to the Argentines. 

“ On the bank he found Rosas’s infantry drawn up to 
oppose him. He advanced under a heavy fire, and, by 
the impetuous charge of the Italians, cut his way 
through the enemy’s ranks and returned to Corrientes. 
In this fierce encounter he lost Borzone and Yalerga; 


320 


LIO.NELLO. 


but he gave a high idea of Italian valor, and left the 
admiral amazed and confounded by his exploits. 

“After several months’ heroic struggles, he made 
his way by land to Montevideo. He found the city 
closely besieged by General Oribe, with little hope of a 
prolonged resistance. Garibaldi was not appalled by 
the danger. He collected all the ships he could find 
in the harbor, equipped them, and trained a select crew 
by severe discipline; animated them by the promise 
of a sure victory. He appealed to the Italians of 
Montevideo; and, when they rallied at his word, he 
formed them into a battalion, eight hundred strong. 
A French refugee advised General Paz not to rely on 
their valor; because the Italian is adroit, under the 
shades of night, in stabbing a man in the back, but, 
like all assassins, he is a coward when he has to meet 
a man face to face. The Italians wished to avenge this 
atrocious calumny, but Garibaldi appeased their indig- 
nation. ‘ On the battle-field prove him to be a liar : 
there is the touchstone.’ And, in fact, during the hot 
conflicts of Cerro, Las Tres Cruces, Boyada, and Salto, 
Garibaldi’s Italian corps fought so gallantly as to 
extort the admiration of the French themselves. 

“ Lionello, who was one of the band, participated in 
all these engagements, and conducted himself like a 
brave Italian. He recounts these struggles in detail. 
I know, Alisa, you delight in every act which redounds 
to the glory of Italy ; but you would be horrified at 
the detailed accounts of the war. So far had we got in 
the memoirs of Lionello. To-morrow we will continue 
our reading : we are near the end.” 

“Oh!” said Alisa, “it is quite plain that, on his 
return to Italy, Lionello, deprived of the leisure which 


THE RETURN OF THE EXILE. 


321 


he enjoyed on board of his ship to extend his memoirs, 
is involved in the fierce operations of war, and con- 
strained to act more and write less; or perhaps he 
feels less inclination to continue his narrative, under 
the pangs of ceaseless remorse.” 


CHAPTER, XXVI. 

THE RETURN OF THE EXILE. 

\ 

On one of the loveliest and most sequestered 
acclivities of the Aracine Hills, a long straight alley, 
bordered with a double row of tufted elms, leads from 
the summit of the vine-clad Genzano to a wide and 
beautiful esplanade, on which rises in majesty the palace 
of the Duke Lorenzo Sforza Cesarini. The grand pro- 
portions of this structure are reflected on the deep 
waters of Lake Hemi. An extensive and magnificent 
garden stretches over the upland. Here the duke en- 
joys delightful pastimes, and rusticates most of the 
year, with his young and charming family. He loves 
to cultivate it himself, plant the trees, lay out the 
paths, and arrange the parterres, shady hedges, water- 
courses, jets-d'eau, bridges, and grottos. The garden 
spreads horizontally over the plateau, inclines over the 
gentle slopes, winds into the recess of the valley, and 
extends again over declivities, shaggy with trees and 
rocks which overhang the lake. On the level surface are 
small lakes, girded with black rocks ; and from these, lim- 
pid waters rush, and bury themselves in fords, ponds, and 
reservoirs. Swans glide over the little lakes, fish people 


322 


LIONELLO. 


the ponds, and aquatic plants weave verdant tissues 
here and there on the bosom of the reservoirs. They 
look like flowery islets, as the vari-colored campanulas 
which adorn them bend their delicate stems under the 
gentle breezes of the highlands of Latium. An orchard 
extends to the left, planted with every species of fruit- 
trees. Beneath them are crowded raspberry, currant, 
and gooseberry bushes, which shed around a delicious 
perfume. Borders of thyme, mint, nard, sweet-mar- 
joram, enclose nurseries of apricot, almond, azarole, 
cherry, pear, and apple trees of every season. Around 
the orchard run thick green hedges of wild laurel, ta- 
marind, rose-brier, and alder. These, at intervals, are 
broken into arbors, where the saunterer can seat him- 
self to read, or admire the flickering bees as they 
gather the sweets of aromatic herbs. 

On the right runs a labyrinth with graceful wind- 
ings. It is the most charming part of the garden, with 
its numberless turns and unexpected descents. Every 
hillock is crowned with a green oak, yew, fir, larch, 
Scotch fir, towering Virginia pine, wide-branching pine 
of Calabria, or knotty and streaming pine of Norway. 
At the foot of these coniferous trees are arranged, in 
an amphitheatre, small vases of exotic plants, imported 
from distant regions, to adorn and enliven this enchant- 
ing spot. The slopes terminate in a pretty terrace, 
edged with larches, elms, savins. At the extremity is 
a turfy mound, a cabin, a jet-d'eau; and when you 
fancy yourself at a glade, you find an overarching 
bosquet. Then the vista, to your surprise, opens into a 
smooth plat, in the middle of which a fountain shoots 
its waters into the air, and sprinkles the bright green 
grass with its refreshing spray. This plat is divided 


THE RETURN OF T11E EXILE. 


323 


into circles, corbels, clumps, and little slopes, in which 
are growing the loveliest flowers, tinted by the hand 
of nature. At the farther end are placed cast-iron 
seats, interlaced with vine-shoots, sheaves of wheat, 
and little osier and broom baskets. In the rear, roses 
and white laurels, camellias, magnolias, and peonies, 
form a brilliant curtain. Parasitic plants twine round 
the trunks of the aged elms, oaks, and lindens; and, 
clinging with pliant tendrils to the rough bark, spread 
themselves over the surface, and checker it with 
flowers. It was a tasteful idea to give this graceful 
aspect to the gnarled trees, which, otherwise, would 
have marred the united beauties of nature and art. 
Before we descend the declivity, we must visit those 
delightful bowers constructed here and there in the 
garden to refresh and gratify the rambler. From the 
bosky shade we look on dove-cotes, aviaries, small cham- 
bers, mimic temples, and sombre, still, secluded walks. 
Here, with a book in our hands, we may spend the 
mid-day hours undisturbed by a straggling sunbeam. 
But nothing is more charming than the knoll which 
rises in the centre of this level. We ascend to the top 
by spiral paths, adorned with odoriferous bunches of 
lavender, box, myrtle, and dwarf citron trees ; and 
thence we have a view of the Artemisian Hills, Lake 
Nemi, the heights of Pardo de’ Jacobini ; and, in the 
distance, of Laurento, Ardea, Anzio ; and, descending 
seaward, of the hills of Lanuvio, as far as Cape Circe. 
On these eminences the ancient Pelasgi perched their 
homes, and Queen Circe reared those Cyclopean struc- 
tures which, in defiance of the assaults of ages, trans- 
mit to posterity the testimonies of ancient civilization 
and Italian ascendency. From the upper garden, bright. 


324 


L 1 0 N E L L 0. 


graceful, and joyous, we descend, by small openings in 
the woods, into the bottom-lands, where the wild and 
interwoven branches fling a massive shade on the 
ground, and oppress the soul with an indefinable anxiety 
and sadness. The farther we advance, we find a deeper 
gloom; and the mysterious obscurity tempts us to 
continue our walk. The descent leads from ledge to 
ledge, winds along juts and hollows, forms caverns, and 
sinks into escarpments, where nature bends a pictu- 
resque bridge of stripped, twisted, and knotted boughs, 
and, from its arch, gives the perspective of ravines, 
torrents, and frightful precipices. Close to this bridge, 
beneath a clump of oaks, stands a fern and turf hut, 
whose only furniture is a little -bench and a straw pal- 
let. It is the home of a hermit, who loves to gaze on 
the brambly rocks and this wild, steep spot, overhung 
by a hollow, gray crag. On one of its projections the 
hermit takes his seat, and eyes, with a silent and 
thoughtful air, the hovering eagle and vulture, — now 
swooping on snakes and clutching them in their claws, 
now bearing them aloft, as they quiver and coil in a 
thousand folds, to crush them on the pointed rocks. 

"Where the trees cluster on the gentler slopes, are 
scattered seats, on which you may rest a while. At 
the end of a path you see a cave, and at the extremity 
of a glade, a terrace which overlooks the lake. Before 
you are the ruins of an old castle ; lower down, warrens 
and grottos ; and still lower, rivulets which fret and 
brawl as they hurry into a reservoir beneath, where 
ducks and moor fowls disport. On another side, you 
descend by shady and meandering paths, through 
groups of chestnut and beech trees, to Lake Nemi, 
which, like a deep well, lies in the gorge of the moun- 


THE RETURN OF THE EXILE. 


325 


tain, and fills tlie stony crater of an extinct volcano. 
Here you searcli in vain for smiling banks, green and 
smooth descents, white pebbly beds on which the waters 
murmur caressingly. The shores are covered with 
matted reeds and bristling fern, rude piles of rocks and 
stones, with an intermediate growth of black hazel- 
bushes which overshadow the bosom of this dismal lake. 

It was meet that amid these horrors of blasted 
nature the ancient pagans should rear a bloody altar 
to the infernal Hecate, whose worship the Pelasgi 
brought from the* inhospitable and cruel lands of 
Tauris. Here stood the revered temple of Diana of 
Nemi, whose gloomy caverns gave dreadful oracles 
to the Latin race. Here priests offered their horrible 
sacrifices and immolated trembling virgins, whose inno- 
cent blood was shed to appease the merciless Cynthia. 
Here, in fine, the serpent which fed on human flesh 
shivered and writhed in fury, as he hissingly darted 
his three-cleft tongue and spewed slaver and smoke.* 


* The Temple and Oracle of Diana of Nemi are well known. The 
primitive Pelasgi established her worship on the banks of the Ari- 
cian lake. Diana Nemoreusis was the dismal Hecate of hell. She 
is likewise called Cynthia Ariciana. The Greeks, who are fond of 
tracing every thing to their own history, assert that Orestes, flying 
from the implacable Furies, brought this statue of Diana from Tauris. 
Others tell us that Hippolytus, escaping from the wrath of Phoedra 
and borne off by his horses terrified at the aspect of this sea- 
monster, was rescued from danger by Diana, and placed in the Ari- 
cian grove consecrated to her; that, in consequence, no horses could 
enter its bounds, and that Hippolytus was there adored under the 
name of Virbius. 

Quitting the domains of fable, we may use the language of history, 
and say that the Pelasgi introduced here the worship and Cabiric 
rites of Samothrace, and propitiated Hecate of Nemi with human 
sacrifices. 


23 


326 


LIONELLO. 


Why am I thus fancy-led from the charms of 
orchards, flowers, fountains, and meadows, from the 
sweets of solitude and repose, from sunny hill-sides, 
shady swards, and delightful knolls of the Cesarini 
garden, to indulge on the shores of Nemi the horrible 
ideas which are conjured up by the memory of bloody 
rites performed, of old, in this very paradise? 

Kind reader, hast thou divined it? Thy heart is 
throbbing with purest, sincerest love for hapless Italy. 
She lies before thee, robbed of her ancient charms, 
which made her the peerless garden of the world; 
changed, by the ruthless priests of the goddess of con- 
spiracies, into a bloody theatre of murderous wars, 
atrocious treasons, execrable assassinations, audacious 
robberies, frontless duplicity, desolation and death. 
Behold Garibaldi, that unnatural son, who, in the 
midst of plots and revolutions, “ had Italy forever 
on his tongue and in his heart,” as he wrote home 
to his confederates ; behold him on the point of em- 
barking at Montevideo with his fatal legion, to prove 
to Italy the love with which she had inspired him, — 
love of carnage, rapine, sacrileges, massacre of priests, 
overthrow of cities, affright of the people, tears of mo- 
thers, grief of wives, anguish of virgins, universal con- 
fusion, mourning, and consternation. He comes. For 
what ? To repay Italy for the sorrows of exile, the 
fruits of his own treason ; to roll over the peaceful States 
of the Church the waters of hatred which he had 
gathered in his own breast against legitimate authority, 
and especially against the Church and the Vicar of 
Jesus Christ; to terrify Rome and steep her heart 
in agony during a siege prolonged by his wicked 
frenzy, sustained by his obstinacy, embittered by his 


THE RETURN OF THE EXILE. 


327 

despair. Here we are at a loss which we ought to 
detest most, — the insolence, the impious temerity, or the 
fury of the renegade who, in his war with Christ, sacri- 
fices his life without demur. The true hero, worthy of 
that exalted name, is noble and high-minded in his 
projects; just and upright in his measures ; magnani- 
mous in his resolutions; firm, constant, intrepid, but 
wise, prudent, and discreet, in the accomplishment of 
his will. Garibaldi, throughout his life, has displayed 
a mind which nature formed for great enterprises; but 
that mind has been marred by vice, debased by im- 
piety, perverted by the frenzy of party. He might 
have been a brave and generous soldier; he is now 
only an assassin, a chief of bandits, the scourge of the 
loyal states of Italy. His partisans have idly striven 
to exalt their idol, illustrate his portrait with brightest 
colors, and enrich him with the names of “ general” and 
“ admiral.” At the bottom of the picture we ever see 
inscribed, conspiracy, sedition, and the impious war of 
traitors. 

The fairest period of his life — because it was pure, 
honest, and reproachless — is that which he led as an in- 
dustrious coaster between Rio Janeiro and Cape Frio ; 
and that, again, which he spent in the transportation 
of guano from Lima to the ports of China, to enrich the 
lands and gardens of the mandarins. Rome, with its 
witty and caustic spirit, expends its happiest pasquin- 
ades on Marshal Colombina. Satirists compare the 
dove and pigeon dung of Peru with the diamonds of 
Golconda, the pearls of Comorin, the rubies and car- 
buncles of the Ganges. They salute, they exalt, the brave 
rival of the illustrious Oudinot, imitating the ancient 
Roman heroes, Cincinnatus and Fabricius, who, after 


328 


LIONELLO. 


having obtained the triumphs of the Capitol, returned to 
their fields, to feed their oxen, improve their waste lands, 
hold the handles of their ploughs, and gayly sing, “ Olim 
summi viri arabant et stercorabant terram.”* Polite in- 
vitations were given to the marshal to visit them in his 
admiral's ship and bring a rich cargo of guano to Ostia, 
to fertilize the olive-orchards of Marino, Tivoli, and 
Palestrina. 

Ah, Homans, beware! Do not trifle with the lion. 
He may one day remind you of the rough treatment 
he gave when you were under his paws. Kather pray 
that the favoring winds from the Marquesas Islands, 
the Archipelago of Solomon, and the LadroUes, may waft 
him to the coast of China, over a calm and placid sea, 
and thence again to the shores of Bolivia. Beg 
earnestly of St. Peter that, if Garibaldi should have a 
mind to return poor and ragged to his boat and net, 
he may find a good market for the deposits of birds, 
hens, and wild pigeons; for if, by ill luck, people 
will neither fancy nor buy his fragrant merchandise, 
alas ! he may take it into his head to strut again 
through the Corso in his scarlet tunic, which many of 
you will hasten to kiss with amorous transports ! 

But now Lionello begins anew to tell us the 
chivalrous deeds of Garibaldi ; and he insists upon our 
recognising, in his person, Scipio Africanus, who, 
whilst Hannibal is marching on Borne, sails for 
Carthage and carries the war into the enemy’s country. 

“Thus Garibaldi,” says Lionello in his memoirs, “re- 
called to Montevideo after the glorious day of San 


* In days of yore, the greatest men were wont to plough and ma- 
nure the earth. 


THE RETURN OF THE EXILE. 


329 

Antonio del Salto, conceived a rash and daring expedi- 
tion. Montevideo was closely pressed by General Oribe, 
who burned to avenge his expulsion from the Presi- 
dential office; whilst Admiral Brown blockaded it with 
the fleet of Rosas. Garibaldi made head against the 
one, captured tenders with supplies of arms and 
provisions; harassed the other with his stratagems, 
onslaughts, forays, and ambuscades. Sometimes he 
glided along the hull and endeavored to destroy the 
ships with Greek fire. Every night the admiral was 
obliged to trip his anchor, in order to escape the plots 
of the wily Italian. Often, after the tattoo, Garibaldi 
said to his men: ‘My brave fellows, I want to-night 
ten men to go into a pontoon and steal with muffled 
oars between Admiral Brown's vessels, the Maypu and 
Echague, and try to scuttle them.' Or again: ‘Let 
us see who among you is brave enough to volunteer to 
go under the stern of the captain’s vessel, smear it 
with pitch, and fire it with phosphorus.’ At other 
times, lying flat on his breast with Anzani and myself, 
he floated on the water with Ioletto, passed under the 
hawse-hole and tackle, tried to saw through the iron 
links of the anchor-chain or burn the cable with aqua- 
fortis, and thus set the vessel adrift. 

“ Convinced, however, that he could not drive from 
their moorings the vessels of Oribe and the fleet of 
Brown, Garibaldi presented himself privately before 
the council, and said : * Gentlemen, do you wish to force 
the enemy to raise the siege ? For my part, I see but 
one expedient to accomplish this end; and that is, to 
allow me to march my Italian legion against Buenos 
Ayres. I propose to enter the port noiselessly, attack 
the guards in their sleep, traverse the city, assail the 
28 * 


330 


LIONELLO. 


house of Rosas, take him a prisoner unawares, and thus 
deliver that noble city from the execrable despotism of 
a Nero, who triumphs in the blood and tears of its 
citizens, exults in the anguish, terror, and lamenta- 
tions of his victims. We Italians, armed with pikes, 
dirks, and pistols, will run through the streets, crying, 
‘ Death to Rosas! death to the enemies of liberty!' 
In this tumult, brave citizens worn out with bondage, 
will rise, rally, and resist every one who opposes the 
enterprise. At this unexpected news, the besiegers 
will be alarmed: they will hasten to Buenos Ayres, 
which they will find free and victorious, uttering ter- 
rible threats against its enemies. This measure will 
terminate a long, obstinate, and cruel war. Otherwise, 
God knows when you will see the end of it.' 

“The leaders of the aristocracy looked at each other 
with astonishment, when they heard this most daring 
proposition ; but they resolved not to accept it. They 
eulogized Garibaldi’s courage, but declared unanimously 
that the hope of success could not balance in their minds 
the fear of losing, in him and his gallant countrymen, 
the stay and glory of this war. Disappointed thus in 
regard to a glorious enterprise, Garibaldi determined 
to besiege the besiegers in turn; and, having seen the 
squadron of Rosas about to weigh anchor, he hastily 
armed three small vessels with eight pieces of cannon, 
whilst the enemy mounted forty -four. When he left 
his anchorage, the Argentine squadron was unmoored, 
and, with unfurled sails, practising some evolutions, 
and making for the mouth of La Plata; but, seeing 
the hot pursuit of the Orientals, it put about and 
steered toward the Italians. The entire city of Monte- 
video hastened to the walls, thoroughfares, terraces, 


I 


THE RETURN OF THE EXILE. 


331 

and roofs ; the sailors of foreign vessels in port mounted 
the tops, yards, and rigging, to witness the fierce and 
unequal fight. The vessels advanced against each 
other in full sail. Garibaldi was quite aware that he 
could not encounter the enemy's broadside under such 
heavy odds. He therefore made arrangements for the 
Italian legion to board and come to close quarters. 

“We stood in battle-array on deck, holding aloft 
grapnels, iron hooks, harpoons, and tridents, which 
glittered and blazed in the sun. At the sight of this 
bristling forest of steel, of these bright and formidable 
weapons, the admiral of the Argentine squadron dis- 
covered the presence of Garibaldi’s redoubtable divi- 
sion, and, at the moment when the vessels were about 
to engage, veered ship, set sail, and declined the com- 
bat. We returned with Garibaldi in triumph to the 
harbor, in the midst of the applauses of the inhabit- 
ants and congratulating shouts of the foreign sailors. 

“ Garibaldi, with our legion, was able to defy hell itself. 
He called us rightly his fearless knights ; and our rivals 
of the French legion called us Garibaldi's devils. In 
fact, every one of us had dauntlessly faced death a thou- 
sand times; for the most of us had been robbers on 
land and pirates on the sea. The former for years had 
been following the trade of toreros in the immense Re- 
ductions of San Pablo, Maragnon, Eio Colorado, and 
the boundless prairies of Mendoza and Sant’ Jago, — 
where they encountered extraordinary dangers in 
hunting wild cattle. Mounted on horseback, with a 
lance resting in the stirrup, they wear a buckler on 
the left arm, and hold in their right hand a long coil 
with a running noose. When they perceive the horns 
of a bull peering above the tall, tufted grass, they put 


332 


LIONELLO. 


their horses to the gallop, and, dexterously flinging the 
lasso, snare the animal by the horns. As soon as the 
bull feels that he is caught, he dashes his head down- 
ward, paws with his feet, bellows, snorts, foams, glares 
with his wild eyes, and struggles convulsively and 
frantically for freedom. But the torero, with one end of 
the lasso fastened to the saddle-bow, rides rapidly round 
the beast, entangling and dragging him forward, until a 
favorable opportunity enables him to strike him to the 
heart with his lance and lay him dead on the plain. 

“This mode of life is severe and harassing. For at 
times the infuriated bull assails the hunter in flank, 
embowels the horse with his horns, and hurls the rider 
to the ground. Then the torero must, by rapid and 
instantaneous passes, vault beyond the animal’s attack, 
wound him in the side, belly, or forehead, and thus 
finish him. 

“ Others of our companions had been hunters of tigers, 
panthers, and lions in the islands of Borneo and Timor, 
in the forests of Macassar, and in the Moluccas. One 
of them, unaided, had killed in the woods of Bakanlang, 
Bezuki, and Sumanap, in the island of Java, more than 
twenty royal tigers. He bore the hideous traces on 
his face, which was frightful to behold. A tiger sud- 
denly sprang upon him, and, with a furious blow, struck 
its claws into his temple, and stripped off the flesh with 
the ear to the very chin. He had the courage to 
draw from his belt a krist, a Javanese dagger, and 
plunged it into the beast. The savage creature had 
already sunk its teeth into his shoulder to the bone ; 
but, as it felt the deadly stroke, it opened its mouth, 
uttered a cry, and made a tremendous leap. But the 
dauntless hunter, disregarding his horrible wound, 


THE RETURN OF THE EXILE. 


333 


assailed the tiger on the side, pierced it twice in the 
lungs, and killed it. This man was desperately hold. 
He coolly awaited the tiger’s approach, and, when he 
saw it lower its head to make the final spring, he fired 
at its head and pierced the brain. We had in our 
brigade some men who had spent several years beneath 
the burning skies of Caffraria, Senegambia, Guinea, and 
Congo, engaged in the slave-trade. They traversed 
deserts and forests on the traces of wild Africans, and 
bought prisoners of war. In the torrid climates, they 
advanced as far as Timbuctoo, Soudan, and Sokatoo, 
after incredible hardships, and in continual peril from 
serpents and ferocious beasts. They often escaped 
from the hyena only by climbing into a cocoa or a 
palm tree. Then they saw issuing from the desert an 
enormous boa, full twenty feet long, and as thick as a 
mast. It undulated along the ground, with head erect 
and flashing eyes, with open and hissing jaws. It 
directed its course toward the refuge of the hunters. 
The hyena backed itself to the tree, howled, sharpened 
its claws, leaped about, and quivered at the prospect 
of flesh and blood. The beast and the reptile are 
engaged in deadly conflict. The hyena, with upraised 
head, whirls frantically round and round, bites, and 
lacerates with its claws. The boa rises erect on its 
breast, throws its body backward into half a circle, 
then uncoils, and, with a sudden plunge, aims at the 
belly of its adversary. The hyena springs now back, 
and now from side to side, to escape the threatening 
clasp of the serpent. The wearied beast, with foaming 
mouth and trembling limbs, seeks to regain the shelter 
of the forest. But in four bounds the boa overtakes it, 
strikes it with its tail, closes upon it. The hyena, in- 


334 


LIONELLO. 


tercepted in its retreat, writhes in its attempts to bite 
the tail of the serpent, which pounces upon it and folds 
it in its spiral embrace. In the twinkling of an eye, 
the two animals, in rapid revolutions, seem but one. 
The suffocating hyena howls, vomits froth and blood, 
widely opens its mouth, and menaces with eyes starting 
from its head, until at length, overpowered by the 
strength of the monster's embrace, exhausted by many 
wounds, tortured in every limb, it dies. Its bones 
are broken or dislocated, its muscles flattened, its body 
lengthened and drawn out like soft paste. Then the boa 
uncoils, stretches itself like a long beam, seizes the 
head of its victim, sucks it in, and finally gulps the 
entire animal. After this horrid repast, it lies gorged 
and torpid. The hunters descend from the tree, pierce 
it with their lances, strip it of its skin, and bear it 
away as a trophy. 

“ Some of our legionaries had acted as smugglers in 
India; some, as robbers, who attacked the caravans 
issuing from the gorges of the Guiana Mountains to 
descend into Peru ; others were whalers or privateers- 
men. All were brave and intrepid. Only Garibaldi, 
by a single look, was able to subdue those desperadoes. 
At his command, they became gentle as lambs, and 
submissive as dogs to their masters. He exercised 
over them the dominion which Van Amburgh holds 
over his lions, tigers, leopards, which tremble at his 
look, forget their own strength, pant, and slink into a 
corner of their cages, as if they regarded him as the 
genius of death. Garibaldi managed these audacious 
spirits with a tight or loose rein, according to necessity. 
His air was noble and grave; his voice, words, gesticu- 
lations, were deeply impressive. The savage soldiers 


THE RETURN OP THE EXILE. 335 

under his command loved and venerated him as a god. 
His orders were punctually fulfilled, — often conveyed 
by a simple motion of the eye. Such was the legion 
of Garibaldi when they received the first news of com- 
motion in Italy, and of the hopes of liberty. 

“ Insensibly, and without any one being able to divine 
the cause, — a mystery which even his most intimate 
friends could not solve, — Garibaldi saw himself master 
of the reins of government and depositary of all the 
powers of the republic. He was king, judge, general, 
admiral ; or, in one word, dictator. Montevideo opened 
its eyes in affright. The citizens fancied that the axe 
was on their necks. General ftivera, commander of 
the Oriental forces, was awakened to the state of affairs, 
and saw above him this terrible adventurer, who re- 
garded him with a silent look. The French legion 
uttered a cry of scorn : it threatened and raged. The 
armed bands of negroes were about to mutiny. The 
Italian legion stood aloof, seemingly unconcerned. It 
was like the phantasms of a violent fever, which are dis- 
pelled by the first breath of the morning breeze. Gari- 
baldi at this crisis was once more the soldier he had 
been. Was there premeditation, collusion, surprise, in 
all this ? It is certain that Lord Howden, who had 
been sent by the British Government to pacify the re- 
publics of La Plata, had proposed to Garibaldi to dis- 
band his legion, — in his opinion, the very focus of the 
war. Garibaldi positively rejected the proposition. 
Did this dictatorship, which had fallen like a thunder- 
bolt on Montevideo, serve to manifest the power which 
people wished to crush with two words from England ? 
Or was it indeed the lust of rule in Garibaldi? Until 
then he had remained satisfied with a soldier's profes 


336 


LIONELLO. 


sion, and as the pay of his legionaries was found in- 
sufficient, Garibaldi privately attended to this matter ; 
whilst Francis Agell presented his protests to the 
minister of war, Pacheco y Obes, in which he declared 
it was a shame for the republic to treat so niggardly 
the soldiers and their chiefs. The ministers sent him 
by his secretary five hundred francs ; but Garibaldi, 
contenting himself with fifty of them, asked that the 
rest might be given to a widow, who was in greater 
need than himself. But how was it that he suddenly 
beheld himself master of the Oriental Republic ?* 

“ Meanwhile, as I stated above, the reported struggles 
for Italian liberty were borne on the wings of the wind 
across the bosom of the Atlantic, and spread light and 
fragance in the ports of America. The exiles eagerly 
inhaled the delicious rumor, like the voyager, who, long 
confined in the hold of a ship, mounts to the deck and 
expands his lungs with the refreshing breeze which 
whistles through the shrouds and swells the sails. A 
great change, from this moment, came over Garibaldi. 
He had been taciturn, solitary, sad. Now his aspect 
was serene; his broad brow beamed with light; his 
lips were wreathed with a sweet smile ; his every move- 


* The Mazzinians extol the magnanimous disdain which Garibaldi 
manifests for riches, honors, and dignities. But these pristine 
virtues, so familiar to their tongues and pens, are strangers to their 
hearts: they exercise no influence on their actions. Whenever they 
gain the ascendency, they fling moderation and sobriety to the 
winds. Witness the conduct of Mazzini, who, at Rome, arrogated to 
himself the most prominent position, and constituted himself dic- 
tator, king, and tyrant. Witness Garibaldi, who sprang at once to the 
dictatorial power in the Banda Oriental. We ourselves can testify, 
for the last five years, to the game which these unselfish lovers of 
liberty have played in Piedmont. 


THE RETURN OF THE EXILE. 


337 

ment betrayed inward joy. He was absorbed in a 
kind of ecstasy. In this rapt state of mind, he some- 
times met me on the guards of the “ship, and, stopping 
suddenly, he tapped me on the shoulder, and said, 
1 Don't you scent the sweet odors of liberty which are 
wafted from Italy to revive us ? Don't you ? I dilate 
my lungs to breathe them, with delight and intoxi- 
cation.' 

“But here are letters which come in shoals from our 
brethren at Nice, Genoa, Leghorn, and Naples. The 
Piedmontese refugees have returned from France to 
Turin, and inflamed the fervent soul of Charles Albert. 
Those of Rome were advancing boldly toward the 
Capitol. Mazzini wrote with words of fire. Here is 
one of his letters : — 1 Garibaldi, these stupid constitu- 
tionalists are scribbling constitutions on a small scale, 
in Parisian fashion. They copy one another, like country 
milliners who mimic the modistes of the city. What 
ridiculous characters they are, with their notions of 
uniting liberty and the king, liberty and the Church ! 
Liberty is one : it is God. Garibaldi, you only compre- 
hend my thoughts. Come home, and help me to set 
these fools straight.' 

“ Garibaldi did not pause to deliberate. He knew 
the aims of Mazzini in regard to Rome. Italy would 
never be free till the Phrygian cap displaced the cross 
at the Vatican. He points to the Capitol; in pompous 
strains, to stun the ears of loungers, he eulogizes the 
valor and ancient glory of Rome, the genius of the 
Latin race. But his plans have a wider scope, over 
which he throws a veil. Till Christ and His vicar are 
extirpated from Rome, Quirinus cannot resume his 
sway over the Capitol. 


29 


338 


LIONELLO. 


“Take away the nest, and the dove is homeless; 
pluck out the tree of the cross to its smallest roots, 
and then the tree of liberty will flourish. This is the 
grand mystery of Mazzini. All his operations tend to 
this final and decisive object. Mazzini and his fol- 
lowers will never rest till they have accomplished it. 
Garibaldi, who, like myself, was privy to the great 
secret, said to me, one day, ‘Lionello, to second the 
hallowed thoughts of Mazzini, I must try the lead, as 
I did in 1833, when I entered the royal navy of Charles 
Albert, to propagate secretly democratic principles 
among the officers and men. We must now tender our 
services to the Pope, in order to open the way for our 
brethren in Borne. If the Pope accept our offers, we 
will act like gallant fellows, I promise you.’ 

“ On the 12th of October, he wrote as follows to Mon- 
signor Bedini, who was then internuncio at Bio Janeiro : 
— 1 If these arms, which have been somewhat trained to 
war, can be of service to his Holiness, we will pledge 
them to the good work, to the aid of him who pro- 
motes the happiness of the Church and of our native 
land. To sustain the regenerating labors of Pius IX. 
will be our delight. Myself and my companions, in 
whose name I speak, will deem ourselves happy to 
shed our blood in his cause.’* 

“ The letter of the internuncio in reply was expressed 


* The subsequent conduct of Garibaldi is a fair exposition of the 
kind of service he proposed to render to the sovereign Pontiff, and of the 
manner in which he conceived himself happy to pour forth his blood 
in aiding the regenerating labors of his Holiness. He doubtless 
meant Pope Mazzini, for whom he bade not only his legion, but 
many poor, unfortunate youths whom he had fatally misled, shed 
their blood on Mount Janiculum. 


THE RETURN OF THE EXILE. 339 

in polite but vague terms. He said, in conclusion, 
‘May the Italians who are under your authority be 
ever worthy of the name which honors them, and of 
the blood which runs in their veins !’* 

“ Garibaldi perceived, under the polished style 
of this gentlemanly address, a rancid odor which 
savored little of Italian regeneration ; whilst the 
letters of the Mazzinians were steeped in the de- 
licious perfumes of a virgin liberty, like the breath 
of a young girl in the bloom of her fifteenth year. 
He took me aside, and said : ‘ Priests are everywhere 
priests. They aspire after the liberty of the children 
of God ; we, after the liberty of the children of Italy. 
Does the nuncio fancy that we have the wings of the 
dove, to cross by one stroke the intervening seas ? It is 
not by fair words, but by clinking dollars, that we are 
to reach the other side of the Atlantic. Our soldiers 
are not fed with ejaculatory prayers nor clothed with 
indulgences. We want money; and money we will get 
from our brethren.’ 

“ His appeal was heard. All the partisans of liberty 
were generous. Garibaldi was soon furnished with 
funds, and enabled to form a phalanx around him, of 
three hundred gallant and dashing fellows. One Geno- 
ese, Stefano Antonini, gave us, out of his own pocket, 
more than thirty thousand livres ; and many in their 

* The name of the Garibaldians was unquestionably honored at 
Rome! They have embalmed their memories in the hearts of the 
people of the Ernico, Maritima, Umbria, in the Marches and Eastern 
Tuscany. At that very name, crowds of wives and virgins thrill with 
horror, and swoon away. Let those hapless females who become ill 
and die of fright, and those, too, who see their houses sacked and 
fired, who bewail the murder of fathers, brothers, and husbands, 
attest the veneration in which these miscreants are held ! 


340 


L 1 0 N E L L 0. 


contributions exceeded their means. The strong boxes 
of Young Italy were no longer parsimonious; drafts to 
a considerable amount were transmitted to us from 
Genoa and Leghorn. This money enabled Garibaldi 
to equip each of his companions-in-arms with a good 
cloth suit. He furnished them with torero capes and 
gaiters, and hats after the Bolivar fashion, with com- 
fortable pantaloons, and bootees with leather ties, a 
scarlet tunic, and a large silk sash, a Bedouin bornouse, 
and a sabre. He bought, on cheap terms, caparisons 
and pack-saddles with two saddle-bags, woven and 
braided by the Indians. These grouped together en- 
closed on one side the baggage, and on the other, the 
provisions for the soldiers and the forage for' the horses 
when in the field. 

“After these preparations, he went to the harbor, 
made an agreement with the captain of the Esperanza, 
and freighted the ship at his own expense. He stipu- 
lated that the flag displayed should be the Italian, red, 
white, and green, — the emblem of a free country, which 
has the right to give to the winds the glorious colors of her 
resurrection. But our departure, for which Garibaldi 
had sighed for fourteen years, was not to be accomplished 
without difficulty. It was injurious to the interests of 
the Orientals and the political views of foreigners. 
Montevideo grieved at the idea of losing the arm and 
counsel of this intrepid Italian. The commanders of 
European squadrons were fearful that this small band 
of determined men, under pretext of going to assert 
the independence of Italy, might make a descent on 
the coasts of the continent or of the Antilles. They 
therefore impeded our sailing. They persisted in de- 
taining Garibaldi till secret information should be for- 


THE RETURN OF THE EXILE. 34^ 

warded to Brazil, Guiana, Maracaibo in Colombia, 
Gautemala, Cuba, and Jamaica. Garibaldi was in- 
censed at this delay; but he managed so adroitly as 
to obtain money from the English, and permission to 
leave. 

“ When the arrangements were completed, the Italian 
merchants, and particularly the exiles, were overwhelmed 
by a thousand conflicting sentiments of joy, hope, envy, 
and bitter regrets at being obliged to remain so far 
from their beloved Italy. Francisco Gaggini, of Genoa, 
in a fit of enthusiasm, abandoned his lucrative business, 
his promising speculations, the fruit of twenty years’ 
hard labor, and begged to be enrolled in the band and 
fight for the freedom of Italy. On the day of sailing, 
the Esperanza wore a gala-dress, and was decked with 
the colors of all nations, except the Austrian, and sur- 
mounted by the great tri- color flag of Italy. 

“ The Italian exiles, who from the mole and the 
quays saw it unfolded to the breeze, fell on their knees, 
and worshipped, in this flag, the liberty and indepen- 
dence of Italy. They lifted up their hands, and cried : — 

“ ‘0 divine ensign ! from the lofty peak where thou 
di splay est the glory of Italy, cast a compassionate look 
on the exiles who invoke thee, who hail thee as their 
hope, support, supreme and immortal felicity. They 
adore only thee ; to thee only do they consecrate them- 
selves. Thou art the sole God of their hearts, affec- 
tions, thoughts. Move onward and proudly with thy 
select band of heroes! They will plant thee on the 
towers of execrated tyrants. Fly on the winds of 
heaven; and, triumphant from the Maritime to the 
Julian Alps, reign like a queen over the Capitol; flash 
to the extremity of Lilybseum, and from the summit of 

29 * 


342 


LIONELLO. 


JEtna irradiate all Sicily ! Be a providence to thyself; 
joyously cleave the ocean, which, serene and docile, 
in reverence to thy puissant divinity, will bear thee on 
to the ports of Italy.’* 

“ As we weighed anchor, all the exiles who remained 
on shore for want of means to leave, or from other 
motives, shouted a joyous adieu, waved their hand- 
kerchiefs, motioned with their heads and hands, in the 
midst of transports of applause. We, on our part, 
responded to their farewell salutations, we wafted 
kisses and received their friendly wishes, until the 
vessel, unfurling the smaller sails of the two masts and 
the yards, moved through the waters, under a brisk 
breeze, to the mouth of the La Plata. There we 
ploughed the billows of the ocean which roll in on this 
immense river; we spread our mainsails to a strong 
western wind, and gained the offing on the 1st of April, 
3848. 

“ The wind sped us on finely toward Port Allegre ; 
but then it began to strike us on the quarter, and often 
took us aback until we reached the tropics. Here it 


* These blasphemous phrases are repeated through the whole gamut. 
It is evident that the only God of these conspirators is the liberty and 
independence of Italy. As professsed ministers of this new God, 
they claim to be free and independent themselves, in order to rule over an 
enslaved and oppressed people, in order to rob their victims of all that 
is most precious, — their souls of God their Creator and Redeemer, their 
families of peace and liberty, their purses of gold and silver. To cheat 
the people more effectually, they affect to concentrate in them their 
country and God; and their dupes are blind to the fact that this God, 
cajoled, insulted, pillaged, is enchained by demagogues, and, after 
being despoiled, is left a prey to misery and famishing death. The 
God of heaven nourishes His children and provides for all their wants; 
the pseudo-God of country plunders and scoffs at them. 


THE RETURN OF THE EXILE. 343 

was a dead lull ; and, before we crossed the line, we 
were distressingly becalmed. Our water and biscuit 
began to spoil ; and this untoward event greatly damped 
our ardor to reach Italy and expel the Croat. How 
often, at sunset, did Graribaldi come on deck, and, turn- 
ing toward Italy, when the twilight hour shadowed 
the soul of the navigator with melancholy thoughts, 
say to me, ( I fear, Lionello, we shall reach our country 
too late to engage in this holy enterprise. The Italians 
are arrayed on the plains of Lombardy, and we, with- 
out a breath of wind, are nailed to the Atlantic!' 

“ He rubbed his brow for a moment, like a man who 
cherishes some splendid thought, and said, — 

“ 1 After all, Lionello, if we find the work of freedom 
begun, we with our right arm will finish it.' 

“ To escape the wearisomeness of this deep calm, I 
undertook to write these memoirs. Alone, during most 
of the time, in my quarters, lacerated by remorse, a 
prey to anguish at the sight of so many misspent years 
and squandered treasures, of friends basely betrayed, 
of my own misery as the victim of repeated treachery, 
continually at war with my own heart, I recalled, in the 
bitterness of my soul, all the recollections of my sad 
existence. When I glanced at some of these pages, my 
hair stood on end. I have known truth only to trample 
it under foot ; I have stifled the generous sentiments 
deposited in my heart ; I have dishonored my life by a 
thousand crimes, and vilified my being by hideous 
abominations. 0 Josephine! art thou still living? 
If thou art still upon the earth, thou canst not think 
of thy brother without a blush. Doubtless thou hast 
ceased to speak of me to relatives and friends of the 
family, who must despise me as an execrable con- 


344 


LIONELLO. 


spirator. Perhaps from thy children thou concealest 
my name and existence, to spare them the shame of 
owning a vagabond and pirate uncle. When thou pass- 
est before our paternal dwelling, which has fallen per- 
haps into the hands of a Jew, thou lowerest thy eyes, 
to look no more on the dishonored escutcheon of our 
family, or at those windows, which admitted the first 
rays of the sun to shine on our infant heads, and the 
vital air to support our tender existence. Josephine ! 
I am returning to Italy. Perhaps I cannot see thee ; 
and, if I can, how am I to present myself before 
thee? 

“Young men of Italy, if these memoirs fall into your 
hands, let them be to you a warning lesson against the 
illusions, snares, seductions of false friends — or rather 
assassins — who will destroy your happiness ! To this 
pernicious evil my wanderings are to be ascribed. 
Among the causes which lead to the ruin of young 
noblemen, I place prominently the cruel system which 
denies us the benefit of a public education, solid instruc- 
tions, and practical acquaintance with human affections ! 
This is the system which condemns us to the timid and 
effeminate life of home, unfits us to indulge high and 
noble thoughts, subjects, in a shameful bondage, our 
ignorance and weakness to the arrogance of valets and 
domestics ! 

“ Reader, if thy heart is kind, pity me. Commiserate 
my misfortune, and, to crown thy generosity, shed a tear 
on my grave. I am weary of this oppressive life ; I 
am bereft of the consolations of religion, of the hope 
which sustains in patience pious souls, because they 
look to the ineffable, eternal beatitude which awaits 
them beyond the tomb. Secret societies have per- 


THE LAST CRIME. 


345 

verted the good dispositions of my soul; detestable 
oaths have made me merciless; impious and sacrilegious 
rites, infamous vices, unceasing remorse, corrode, affright 
my heart, and plunge it in despair. 

“ Amid these bitter reflections, one thought consoles 
me : the thought of the tear of compassion granted to 
my memory. Man is thus strangely fashioned ! I say 
to myself, ‘The unfortunate Lionello has found one 
kind heart which utters no curse over his remains; 
which gives him even a sigh of pity and a tear.’ Jo- 
sephine, my sweet sister ! wilt thou refuse me this tri- 
bute ? Give it to me, Josephine, and be happy !” 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE LAST CRIME. 

Those concluding words deeply affected the entire 
company. Alisa was not satisfied to give one tear to 
Lionello : she wept the whole way from the linden 
arbor to her little chamber. There, on her knees be- 
fore the Madonna, she poured out her tears, prayers, 
and grateful acknowledgments for the grace which had 
rescued Aser from the horrible abyss of secret societies, 
and had brought him to the regenerating bath of the 
blood of Jesus Christ. 

“0 blessed Mother!" exclaimed the young girl, 
“who will ever be able to penetrate the profound and 
inscrutable mysteries of God's goodness? He speaks 
sweetly to the hearts of all men ; He wishes all men to 
be saved, to share in His infinite mercies. Oh ! happy 


346 


LIONELLO. 


is lie who listens to the Saviour when He knocks at the 
door of his heart. He enters in tenderness and mercy ; 
He kisses and embraces the offending soul, washes, 
purifies, embellishes it, dispels the horrors of darkness, 
makes it a paradise of grace, beauty, and resplendent 
light ! But, my good Mother, what would have been 
the fate of Aser if thou hadst not cast on him an eye of 
maternal tenderness, and if he had not corresponded 
with thy gracious invitation ? Like Lionello, he was 
hurrying on the downward road of destruction, and, 
like him, he would have been precipitated into the 
abyss !” 

As Alisa arose and dried her tears, the innocent 
Lodoiska entered. She was alarmed at the sight of 
her distress, and, sobbing too, she asked, — 

“What is the matter, Alisa? Why do you weep?” 
Alisa kissed her on the forehead, pressed her cheeks 
between her hands, and replied, — 

“Nothing; nothing, my darling. Let us say an ave 
to the Madonna, and then come and say your lesson ; 
for this evening we are going in a boat to fish on the 
lake.” And the good child skipped for joy, and went 
to her books. 

The next day, the family occupied their usual seats 
under the shade. Mimo had not brought the memoirs 
of Lionello. Alisa, and, after her, all, exclaimed, in 
their eagerness to hear the conclusion, — 

“Oh! why did you not bring the book? Does it 
end so abruptly at the very moment when our curiosity 
is so much excited to learn the last events of his life?” 

“ It seems to me,” replied Mimo, “ that Lionello in- 
tended to continue his narrative, if he had not been 
hurried to the final dreadful act of blowing out his 


THE LAST CRIME. 


347 

brains ; but the manuscript contains only some loose 
sheets, on which he jotted down notes from time to 
time, to be developed, no doubt, at a later day, like the 
foregoing memoirs. After his affecting apostrophe to 
his sister, to whom he was still tenderly devoted, the 
book closes as follows : — ‘ The memoirs were thus far 
written, on the Atlantic Ocean, 29th May, 1848, in 4° 
north latitude, and in longitude of the Azores, at the 
first evening watch.’ ” 

“And can you,” said Alisa, in her great desire to 
hear more, — “ can you give us any information in re- 
gard to his last adventures ?” 

“ Some of the notes are of considerable length. There 
are detached reports, and fragments relative to facts 
which were read in the newspapers, or eked out with 
exact details furnished us from Eome by Aldobrando. 
The first note is dated the 2d of June. It reads as 
follows : — 

“ 1 Having discovered a vessel in the distance, Gari- 
baldi went aloft, and recognised the white cross of Savoy. 
He hailed it with his trumpet and asked it to lie to ; 
when to the word, “ Italians,” and “Who are you?” the 
captain of the brigantine answered, “Genoa.” The 
Esperanza hove to ; the Genoese tacked and made for 
us. The boat was lowered, and Garibaldi, accompanied 
by Anzani, Gaggini, and myself, went to get the news 
from the captain. He told us of the revolution of 
Paris, the downfall of Louis Philippe, the outbreak at 
Vienna, the insurrection of Milan and the whole Lom- 
bardo- Venetian territory. We learned that the flag of 
liberty and Italian independence was waving from Naples 
to the Alps ; that Charles Albert had united his arms to 
those of the Lombards. Then we learned, too, the battle 


348 


LIONELLO. 


of Goito, the assault of Peschiera, the hopes of exterminat- 
ing the Austrians and driving them beyond the Brener 
and Tagliamento. . . . The transports of Garibaldi and 
the Italians ; . . . feasts and toasts on board of the Es- 
peranza; . . . navigation of the Mediterranean. . . . 

“ We read some time since, in the Ligurian journals, 
the announcement of Garibaldi’s arrival about the 17th 
of June. The news was brought by a Genoese vessel 
which spoke the Esperanza homeward bound. The 
rumor was confirmed, and soon spread over Genoa. It 
was stated, as a signal event, that Garibaldi had landed 
at Nice, and, after so many years’ exile, embraced his 
mother, wife, and children. During the vexatious 
delays to which he was subjected at Montevideo, he 
sent his family in advance, so as not to expose it to the 
chances of a combat with any Russian or Spanish 
cruiser which might dispute his passage. 

“At Nice, the young Mazzinians celebrated his ar- 
rival by a grand demonstration : they regarded and 
vaunted him as a hero. But people of sense and virtue — 
who form a large class in that polished and agreeable 
city — saw in him nothing more than a conspirator, a 
pirate, a chief of brigands ; and, consequently, they took 
no notice of him. It should have been a lesson to con- 
vince Garibaldi that the race of reasonable beings is not 
extinct in Italy; that blind, misguided, corrupt men 
do not form the mass of the people, much less of the 
nation. This fact was manifested in a stronger light 
when he re-embarked on the Esperanza to sail for 
Genoa. He took his departure amid the clamorous 
huzzas of a band of brainless young republicans of the 
Young Italy party; but good and honest citizens oeheld 
him with indifference, if not with horror.” 


THE LAST CRIME. 


349 


11 But/’ said Alisa, “ the newspapers made a great 
uproar about Garibaldi’s arrival at Genoa.” 

“To be sure,” said Don Baldassare, — “especially 
when his pirates made themselves masters of that 
magnificent establishment of the spiritual exercises 
at Carignano. The grand stairways of this superb 
palace, the halls, marble columns, long corridors, and 
apartments commanding a view of the Bisignano, 
the whole eastern part of the city, the ship-yards 
and the harbor, present perhaps the most beautiful 
spectacle and most picturesque site in all Italy. 
Often in the year, retreats are given in this palace 
to the clergy; and, during Lent, to the Genoese no- 
bility. Here, remote from the turmoils of the world, 
and surrendered to silence and solitude, they come to 
renew the spirit of their minds by meditating upon 
eternal truths, and discharge with fresh ardor the obli- 
gations of their respective states and conditions. Now, 
these cells, which had witnessed so many ardent aspira- 
tions to God, repentant tears, generous resolutions, 
combats, triumphs, fears, and hopes, — where divine 
lights and ineffable graces had been poured into the 
heart, — were the scenes of untold abominations. These 
miscreants polluted and changed the sequestered gar- 
dens and lonely retreats, the oratories vocal with the 
word of God, the habitation of Jesus Christ in the 
Eucharist, into a brothel and house of infamous orgies. 
There they lay, exhausted by their excesses, and 
dreamed of that carnage and rapine with which they 
were soon to desolate Italy, in the name of liberty and 
independence.” 

Mimo continued his recital : — “ Whilst pious Chris- 
tians were performing these holy exercises at Carignano, 

30 


350 


LIONELLO. 


Garibaldi hastened to Turin and offered his services to 
the ministry for the deliverance of Lombardy. But 
they were fully aware that in the hunt of that old lion 
Badetzky they had need of other men than whalers, 
toreri, land and sea pirates. They wanted troops, dis- 
ciplined, sober, valiant ; and generals experienced in the 
art of war. They therefore looked with disdain on 
Garibaldi, and said to him, ' The king is at the camp 
of Boverbella: go and speak to him in person.’ Gari- 
baldi was offended at this cold reception : he presented 
himself before the king, bowed respectfully to his 
majesty, and devoted himself to his service. The king 
received him kindly, and quietly dismissed him. This 
non-acceptance of his offers was a mystery to Gari- 
baldi. He fancied that Badetzky was only like a prairie- 
bull of the Bio Grande, — that you had but to lasso him 
and then finish him with the thrust of a spear.” 

“You are joking,” said Don Baldassare. “The 
Mazzinians did not regard the matter in this light. 
They charged it upon Charles Albert as a crime that 
he had not appointed Garibaldi generalissimo of his 
army. Would not this god Mars, with his hundred 
brigands, have defeated and crushed Aspre, Welden, 
and Badetzky ?”* 

“Not a doubt of it,” replied Lando, jocosely, — “since 
the newspapers of Genoa, Leghorn, and Borne repre- 
sented him as Horatius battling alone against all 


* If we may believe Cuneo, the fact is indisputable. He says, 
“We leave to history the task of explaining how the late king, in- 
stead of availing himself of the enthusiasm which Garibaldi created, 
and of the patriotic devotion of a man so widely known and dear to 
Italy, was prevailed upon to dismiss him and thus bereave the na- 
tional war of one of the most powerful guarantees of victory.” 


THE LAST CRIME. 


351 


Tuscany , when, rejected by Charles Albert and wel- 
comed by the Milanese, he had recalled his brigands and 
recruited two thousand desperate Lombards for the 
defence and independence of Milan against the haughty 
German, who was returning victorious from Custoza 
in hot pursuit of the routed Sardinian army. When 
he reached Monza and heard of the armistice concluded 
at Saltz, he declared, with the tone of an emperor, that 
as a child of Italy, jealous of her honor and reputation, 
he could not submit to such a calamity, and that he 
preferred, with his troop of brave and faithful patriots, 
rather than endure the shame of the humiliating terms 
imposed by Austria, to meet death in the hostile ranks 
of a perfidious conqueror. Therefore he broke the 
truce; and, strong in the right of every citizen to employ 
all his strength and means to avert the ruin and degra- 
dation of his country, and the commission which she 
intrusts to the man brave enough to accept it, he con- 
stituted himself the defender of the Italian cause.” 

“ Why, here is fustian enough,” exclaimed Bartolo, 
“to outdo the great Tamerlane!” 

Don Baldassare added, — 

“The only resource left Garibaldi was to eat his 
big words and decamp. On the one hand, Charles 
Albert had repelled him ; and on the other, as he was 
not a part of the regular army, he was not embraced 
by the treaty nor entitled to the benefits of the armi- 
stice. He dared not surrender himself and his soldiers 
into the hands of the Austrians, who looked upon them 
as bandits, and would have given them no quarter. Dis- 
trusting the mercies of the conqueror, Garibaldi ad- 
hered to his old profession of brigand, and began a 
guerilla war; levied contributions on friend and foe; 


352 


LIONELLO. 


and, with his fifteen hundred scoundrels, spread dismay 
through Comasco, Varese, and all the villages along 
the Lario.” 

“And here,” continued Lando, in a waggish vein, 
“ the republican journals represent Garibaldi in the 
conflicts of Luino and Morazone (which they magnify 
into battles and sieges) as a Napoleon at Arcole, Ma- 
rengo, Mantua, and Ulm. Though he never failed to 
end the tragedy by running away, the papers, never- 
theless, tell us that his incredible valor was triumphant, 
and that he proved once more the maxim, A man devoid 
of fear has within himself a great element of victory ” 

“But Garibaldi was not the man to retreat empty- 
handed. Briskly pursued by the light troops of Aspre, 
he did not neglect, in passing houses or villages, to rob 
the poor peasants of their little treasures, hidden under 
the bed or in some chimney-corner. He did not hesitate, 
too, to appropriate horses and mules ; to slay hens, geese, 
and goats, in order to breakfast comfortably under a 
shady tree in a secluded glen, aloof from the path of those 
good Christians, until he reached safe and sound the 
territories of the King of Sardinia, and stumbled on 
Arona. There, to give a glorious termination to the 
campaign, the man who in the neighborhood of Mantua 
had offered his services to Charles, because he must 
needs, as he said, battle and die for Italy, felt an in- 
clination to deplete slightly the public treasure of 
Arona, and, fearful lest its plethora might bring on 
apoplexy, he determined to bleed it freely. Then he 
escaped into Switzerland. The Sardinian Government 
made a great outcry, and proclaimed him a robber, 
knave, and traitor. His partisans styled him the in- 
corruptible warrior, who exhausted all means to uphold 


THE LAST CHIME. 


353 


with armed hand the honor of Italy against Austrian 
oppression; and they declared it scandalous for any 
one to qualify as an act of robbery the spoliation 
of the public coffers at Arona. The man, they said, 
who has in his breast a genuine Italian heart and 
cherishes Italian sentiments, far from blaming, will 
applaud, Garibaldi ; because in his comprehensive 
patriotism he disregarded, in this and other instances, 
mere idle and puerile questions of provincial law, and, 
by his example, boldly marked out the way for those 
who are one day to reunite their country.-”* 

“Do you hear that?” exclaimed Bartolo. “Do you 
understand? These men who are to reunite Italy 
exhaust their breath in vociferations against legitimate 
governments, as oppressors of the people; yet, they have 
the impudence to call the shedding of blood, and the 
plunder of public funds, grace, courtesy, valor. They 
congratulate Garibaldi on his robberies, and openly 
declare that he traced out the path for his brethren, 
who pillage the treasures of the Italian states in the 
name of united Italy. According to their doctrine, 
traitors may seize the public treasure in Tuscany in 
order to conspire in Lombardy, and that of Eomagna 
in order to revolutionize the kingdom of Naples ! Is 
not this bold declaration a sufficient warning to the 


* This is the doctrine of the Mazzinian Cuneo. We are pro- 
foundly thankful for this avowal of ethical maxims, which may 
serve to open people’s ears and make the scales fall from their eyes. 
And yet we are here compelled to say, that they have eyes and shall 
not see, ears and shall not hear; the most terrible chastisement 
which God in his justice inflicts on nations! Doubtless we will be 
charged with malevolence, envy, calumny, or at least exaggera- 
tion ! But can we exceed their own explicitness ? Do we deserve 
contumely and outrage for merely repeating their words? 

30 * 


354 


LIONELLO. 


princes and people of Italy? Do not these words 
clearly indicate the nature of that regeneration at 
which the followers of Mazzini aim ?” 

“Oh, you may hear many other declarations of the 
same character/' said Mimo; “and, although Lionello 
only points to facts in a desultory manner, he reveals 
the hopes of Young Italy founded on the intrepidity, 
audacity, and obstinacy of Garibaldi. In Switzerland 
he found confederates, who gradually reopened the way 
for his companions into Italy, and the most of them took 
up their quarters along the river Genoa, and in the city 
itself. Garibaldi, Lionello, and some of his trustiest 
followers passed the French frontier and re-entered 
Genoa by the V aro. There emissaries from Sicily awaited 
his arrival, to offer him the command of their insur- 
rectionary forces. He promised to repair to Palermo. 
He freighted a vessel, and sailed to Leghorn with his 
adepts. The conspirators of Leghorn, who were in 
concert with those of Rome, took Garibaldi aside, and 
said to him, — 

“‘Are you mad? What are you going to do in 
Sicily ? Let them cook their own hash. Italy is longing 
for a new existence : Rome awaits you.' Garibaldi re- 
plied that he had pledged his word to aid the Sicilians. 
‘ Why do you speak of pledging your word ? Fidelity 
in such cases depends on the general good. Help us 
to establish the republic, one and indivisible, and we 
will secure to Naples and Sicily that liberty which 
they now vainly seek through a sea of blood.' 

“The words ‘Rome and republic’ turned the head 
of Garibaldi. He forgot his engagements, violated his 
pledge to the Sicilians, and remained at Leghorn. 
The Mazzinians had already laid the train ; they had 


THE LAST CRIME. 


355 

determined the day and the hour of the assassination 
of Count Rossi, the prime minister of the Pope, the 
attack on Montecavallo, the Provisional Government; 
the arrangements in the provinces to establish the 
Constituent Assembly, the election, the chiefs. They 
whispered to Garibaldi the stratagem of leaving the 
city suddenly with the rumored intention of giving aid 
to Venice. He set out with his legion for Bologna, 
and on the way met, unexpectedly, General Zucchi. He 
skirmished a while, then slipped through the meshes 
of the net, and proceeded to Ravenna. He gave notice 
to the brethren that the Swiss did not look on him with 
a smiling face, and these gentlemen stirred up the con- 
spirators of the Romagna to defend Garibaldi. Seeing 
himself supported, he pretended to be in search of a ship 
in the port of Ancona to carry him to Venice, abandoned 
his troops hurriedly, to avoid suspicions, and hastened 
by Cesena to the metropolis of the Catholic world. 

“This was the precise moment for the execution of 
their plots, the murder of Rossi, the assault on the 
Quirinal, the flight of the Pope, the establishment of 
the Provisional Government. He determined the times 
and modes of operations, and wrote to his fellows to 
advance toward Umbria and to Foligno, where he 
would rejoin them. Lionello passes rapidly over the 
movements of Garibaldi at this period. He mentions 
briefly the commission which he received from the 
Roman insurgents to guard the passes of the Apen- 
nines, of the encampment at Rieti, of certain expedi- 
tions, and principally of the enrolment of volunteers 
throughout Reate, Umbria, and the Marches. He speaks 
of the military instructions he gave them, to fight sepa- 
rately in squads or platoons, as he had practised with his 


356 


LIONELLO. 


bands of the Rio Grande. Garibaldi was indeed an adept 
in guerilla fighting, and at the San Pancrazio gate, he 
distressed the French greatly by this irregular warfare. 

“ During these events the republic was proclaimed at 
Rome. The rebels had seized all the branches of the 
government. The masses of the people stood aloof, and 
a large number of citizens, incensed at their multiplied 
enormities, expressed their horror, and threatened a 
terrible vengeance, — especially in Sabina, Ernico, Asco- 
lano, and the marches of Fermo. Several cities and 
districts had already refused to elect deputies to the 
Constituent Assembly ; and some of them, like Patrica, 
an ancient stronghold of the Colonnas, perched on the 
mountain-side, swore never to violate their oaths to the 
supreme Pontiff. This opposition exasperated our re- 
publicans. They charged it upon the priests, and, 
through emissaries, strove, by every expedient of pro- 
mises and intimidation, to gain over the inhabitants. 
Garibaldi, occupied with the drill of his legion, found 
time, however, to curb the people, and subject them, 
willing or unwilling, to the republic. Assured of Lio- 
nello’s expertness, activity, and influence, he deputed 
him to aid and counsel the conspirators in every city. 
He despatched him first to Macerata, where he had 
been for some time on garrison-duty, for the purpose 
of checking any reactionary measures of the priests. 

“ Here Lionello enters into certain details of the means 
basely employed to seduce, overawe, corrupt, the peo- 
ple. They exhibit clearly the expedients adopted by 
the republicans to rob the young of their honor and 
conscience. As young libertines are addicted to im- 
moral practices, they were commissioned to spend the 
day in efforts to debauch scholars, apprentices, young 


THE LAST CRIME. 


357 


country-people; to spread subtle snares under tbe feet 
of their unconscious victims and entangle them in 
vice. 

“These victims became in time, for others, instructors 
of iniquity ; and thus the poison was instilled from house 
to house in the cities. Neither academies of young girls, 
nor asylums, nor factories, nor public laundries and 
fountains, escaped the fangs of those venomous serpents, 
which glided into every class of society to corrupt, by 
evil communication, innocent hearts. 

“Others exercised their arts against women; and, ac- 
cording to their rank, character, and education, sought 
to indoctrinate them with their novel ideas. How 
many young mothers of families, trampling under 
foot their former virtues and the dearest affections of 
their hearts, became the seducers of their families, 
kindred, and friends ! From patricians to plebeians, 
from citizens to peasants, all were exposed to the dia- 
bolical influence of men who employed falsehood, craft, 
the most ingenious devices, to alienate sons from their 
fathers, friends from friends, virtuous citizens from the 
worthiest and most respectable of their class. Hence 
the Pontifical States were distracted by hideous ani- 
mosities. The malcontents oppressed their honest neigh- 
bors, heaped opprobrium and infamy on their heads, 
confiscated their property, and condemned their per- 
sons to banishment. Many they treacherously caused 
to be assassinated at night ; so that the loyal classes 
of society had no other escape from these multiplied 
horrors than connivance at their doctrines and wicked 
projects. 

“But the most detestable work of Lionello was his 
co-operation with wretches in their systematic efforts 


358 


LIONELLO. 


to bereave the people of the good example, counsels, 
and aid of the most excellent priests and pastors in 
the rural districts. They manufactured against them 
the most obscene calumnies, which were published in 
the newspapers, placarded at the corners of the streets 
and on the doors of the churches, transmitted to the 
triumvirs with the signature of the magistrates, con- 
firmed by the formal declaration of the clubs and of 
their bad parishioners. 

“Infamous reports were circulated to the discredit 
of the most chaste and pious persons. They were stig- 
matized, too, as favorers of heresy among the people, in- 
stigators of revolt against the republican Government. 
Objects of special vengeance, doomed to prison or death, 
were perfidiously accused of concocting secret measures 
to facilitate the entrance of the Austrians, Neapolitans, 
and other enemies of the republic ! The conspirators 
fabricated intercepted letters, nocturnal meetings in 
churches, cemeteries, and cloisters. Spies were reported 
to have seized on the frontiers, bearers of letters from 
such a parish priest or such a religious. False rumors 
were bruited around ; mobs collected about the convents 
and monasteries, with the cries, 1 Death to traitors! 
Massacre them ! Burn them alive !’ The persons thus 
denounced were seized, loaded with chains, dragged 
along the streets, and cast into prison, amidst a storm 
of imprecations. This was not a solitary fact. It 
was a fact renewed from day to day and enacted 
in all places. Let a zealous priest succeed in free- 
ing a victim from the hands of these villains, and 
his doom is sealed. He is impeached as a traitor, an 
enemy of his country, and condemned to death. Was 
not this the fate of a worthy parish-priest near Anagni, 


THE LAST CRIME. 


359 

murdered in open day and in the middle of the street? 
Was it not the fate of the Dominican parish-priest of 
Santa Maria della Minerva, who, after a thousand tor- 
tures, was assassinated at San Callisto by the custom- 
house officers of Borne ?* 

“Anger, hatred, vengeance, frenzy, pitiless and 
bloody, sped from province to province. There was no 
shelter for virtue even in the most retired and inaccessi- 
ble places. The most secluded valleys of Sabina, the 
wildest hamlets of the Apeninnes, the loneliest huts of 
the shepherds, were suddenly assailed by the satellites 
of impiety, who suspected a priest in every honest face, 
in every act of moderation or word of circumspection. 
They arrested the poor mountaineers, put the dagger 
to their throats, and threatened to kill them on the 
spot if they did not point out the place where they 
had concealed a priest. In the midst of their protesta- 
tions, the terror of their wives, the cries of their 
children, these barbarous emissaries, with their poig- 
nards, pikes, and guns, tossed about the stacks of straw, 
broke open chests, searched cellars and subterranean 
recesses. 

“ Lionello, headlong in these cruel exactions and tyran- 
nical measures, seemed fired with all the furies of hell. 
He acknowledges himself that, asleep or awake, he felt 
the deep workings in his heart, of that diabolical oath 


* It has been juridically proved that these two priests fell victims 
of their zeal. They had rescued two unhappy youths from the snares 
of wicked conspirators ; and the baffled plotters, in revenge, accused 
their parish-priests of disloyalty to the republic. The murderer of the 
priest of Giulianello was executed in 1855. He was assisted at his 
death by the Right Rev. Bishop of Anagni, whose charity deeply 
moved the spectators. 


360 


LIONELLO. 


by which he had sworn, as a Free Mason, to own no 
God but Satan; to sacrifice to this infernal divinity, 
as the sweetest incense, every sentiment of Christian 
virtue.” 

" Yes,” said Don Baldassare, “ ordinary impiety affects 
disguises. It clothes itself with a veil, and, as far as 
possible, arrogates the name of virtue. It maintains 
a certain propriety even in its blasphemies. But the 
impiety of the secret societies is gross, odious, foul. It 
savors of hell, and, like the damned spirits, boldly 
howls its blasphemies against God. At Lausanne and 
Geneva, these votaries of the devil ran like desperadoes 
through the streets, shouting, 'Down with God!’ So, 
in Borne, they yelled, ' Death to Christ ! Hurrah for 
Hell!' 

"The Protestant radicals, under the command of 
Druey and Fazy, rose up against their ministers and 
pastors ; and, as Lionello shows, (though, exclusive of 
his testimony, we have a thousand proofs in writing,) 
the conspirators assailed priests, bishops, and Pope. On 
this point, indeed, the republicans of Borne outstripped 
their Calvinistic brethren of the radical school. The 
latter openly cry, 'Death to the man who prays to 
God !’ The Boman triumvirs, whilst they plundered 
the churches, exiled, imprisoned, massacred priests, 
ordered the blessed sacrament to be exposed, and pub- 
lic prayers to be said for the prosperity of the republic ! 
Is not this the most perfidious Machiavelism, the most 
frontless hypocrisy, that hell ever conceived?” 

"They try in vain,” resumed Mimo, "to put on a 
mask. Lionello, in his confessions, tears it off their 
faces, and exposes the coward knavery and hypocrisy 
of their impious republicanism. He recounts their 


THE LAST CRIME. 


361 


artifices and base lies to oppress, dishonor, and arrest 
the saintly bishops, archbishops, and cardinals of the 
Pontifical States. What is more deplorable is their 
success in bribing some members of the households of 
these excellent personages, to falsify their acts, writings, 
mandates, pastoral letters, and, by their forgeries, to 
render them guilty of a thousand misdemeanors ; when 
their only crime was to raise their hands to heaven, 
like Aaron and Samuel, to invoke the divine protection 
on their flocks, light on the darkened minds of their 
persecutors, the gift of perseverance in faith and loyalty 
to God on so many souls oppressed, abandoned, and 
persecuted to death by the impious ! 

“ In the memoirs of Lionello, we see and trace the 
secret plots for medespecially against their eminences 
the Cardinals of Ravenna and Osimo, against the 
Bishops of Forli, Orvieto, Civita Vecchia, Bagnorea, 
B.ecanati, Poggio Mirteto, and other illustrious prelates, 
who were imprisoned or banished, or saved by flight 
from the fury of their persecutors.” 

“What!” exclaimed Bartolo, “the Bishop of Poggio 
Mirteto too ? Why, he is thrown, as it were, by chance, 
in the darkest corner of the Apennines, among the 
Sabellian mountaineers, who claim their descent from 
the aboriginal Pelliti ! They are a worthy race of men, 
brought up in the fear of God by excellent priests !” 

“It is true as you say,” continued Mimo; “but one 
wolf in the fold is enough to destroy a thousand lambs. 
Now, this is precisely what took place in this little 
mountain-city. Three brothers of bad character, in 
union with men equally abandoned, saw that the lambs 
of Mirteto could, when needed, butt as well as rams : 
therefore they summoned from Rome a certain Capic- 

31 


362 


LIONELLO. 


cioni ; the chief of a band of republicans. In a body, 
these brigands laid violent hands on the clergy, burst 
into the episcopal palace, confined the bishop, Mon- 
signor Grispigni, attacked the seminary, dispersed the 
students, sacked the convent of the Minor Conventuals 
of St. Valentine, imprisoned Father Muraglia, pillaged 
the wealthier houses, assailed the celebrated monastery 
of Tarfa, drove out the religious, seized all the grain, 
cattle, money, and other useful articles on which they 
could lay their hands. Then they returned to Mirteto 
in triumph, to finish their fine expedition. They planted 
the tree of liberty, levied a tax on the inhabitants, 
and struck terror into the heart of that little and 
hitherto quiet city. Thus, uncle, you see that even the 
remotest places in the States of the Church are subject 
to the inroads of impiety. 

“ Lionello shows without reserve the mode of opera- 
tions. When the Mazzinian disturbers of the public 
peace wished to get rid of a bishop who, by his authority, 
charity, and counsels, embarrassed and disconcerted 
their plots, they framed a specious pretext, which had 
a certain air of legality, political considerations, and 
necessary precautions against popular tumult to recom- 
mend it. Behold the traitors at work. The strongest 
and most probable ground of accusation was an intrigue 
with the camarilla of Gaeta (thus they insolently desig- 
nated the Pope and the cardinals and bishops who sur- 
rounded him in his exile) against the liberty of the 
people; and, above all, against a meeting of the electoral 
colleges to nominate deputies to the Constituent As- 
sembly, or to receive the pledges and oaths which the 
republicans exacted of all public officers. To compass 
their object, they pretended to consult the bishops about 


THE LAST CRIME. 363 

the course they were to pursue in these embarrassing 
circumstances. The bishops answered: 

“ 'My children, there is no room now for examination 
or opinions. The supreme pontiff, who is chief and father 
of the faithful, has declared that these acts are unlawful ; 
and some of us, besides the sin and offence against God, by 
opposing his vicar, would incur ecclesiastical censures.’ 

"This was sufficient. They were immediately de- 
nounced in the popular circles or clubs. The members 
then rushed out like mad dogs, and entered the shops of 
the mechanics, the stores of the merchants, into caffis, 
drinking-houses, where they inveighed against the bishop 
as a conspirator, knave, fomenter of revolt, enemy of 
the people, disturber of the peace of the city. In the 
midst of this commotion, a furious mob, often during 
the night, sometimes in open day, gathered around 
the episcopal palace, and, with menaces and impreca- 
tions, threw stones at the windows. ‘ Away with the 
traitor f they shouted : ' Death to the friend of King 
Bomba ! Curses on the enemy of Italy and the partisan 
of Austria ! 1 They did not confine themselves to these 
clamors and outrages. If the bishop during the night 
did not seek an asylum elsewhere, he might expect to 
see his palace next day broken open, sacked, and pillaged, 
and himself thrown into prison. Nay, if they learned 
that he was sheltered in some sure refuge, they soon 
discovered it by their active emissaries. Then exile 
was the only safeguard against death. Monsignor 
Sarra was so fiercely pursued by these cruel vultures, 
that he was obliged to quit the woods and secrete him- 
self among rocks and precipices. Hunted by these bar- 
barians, he was tracked, like a deer, from mountain to 
mountain, till, surprised at last in the castle of Orte, 


364 


LIONELLO. 


he was, in his resourceless state, obliged to seek a 
hiding-place in a Roman aqueduct. He ran along 
the channel, sprang into a recess, and there lay con- 
cealed for more than thirty hours. Monsignor Canali, 
vicegerent of Rome and representative of the Vicar 
of Jesus Christ, appointed to govern the Roman 
Church and console the dispirited flock, hid him- 
self in different retreats ; and, when he was surprised by 
the Garibaldians, who burst into the house, shut the 
doors, and guarded all the entrances, escaped by a 
miracle from the ravenous fury of these human-faced 
tigers. The poor old man, infirm and decrepit, suffer- 
ing from asthma and dropsy, was obliged to assume the 
dress of a gardener or coalman, and in this disguise 
to be carried from asylum to asylum in market-carts 
on bunches of straw. Finally he appealed to the pro- 
tection of the Sublime Porte, and found a refuge under 
the crescent of Mohammed, waving over the convent of 
the Armenian monks, — a standard far more respected 
than the cross by the members of the secret societies.” 

“What nonsense is that you are speaking?” exclaimed 
Alisa. “ The standard of Mohammed and the crescent in 
Rome ! You might as well think of planting the cross 
on the Seraglio at Constantinople, or on the walls of 
Grand Cairo ! Mimo, you are dreaming.” 

“Be quiet, my dear cousin, and rule that wild 
tongue of yours. It is Lionello himself who notes 
these details in his memoirs. He gives an express 
reason why the Turkish, English, and American flags 
were more respected in Rome than others. The re- 
publicans, aware of their approaching defeat at the 
hands of the French and the threatened downfall of 
their eternal republic, were looking out for an asylum 


THE LAST CRIME. 


365 

in Turkey, England, and America. Consequently they 
regarded the flags of these countries as their sheet- 
anchors.” 

“I am utterly confounded ! It is enough to make 
one knock one’s head against the wall !” 

“ Oh, no !” said Lando, with a burst of laughter : 
“don’t do that, Alisa; but knock it against the Turkish 
flag, which is of red silk. I fancy you would make a 
charming little sultana.” 

“A truce to your jokes! I don’t feel in a mood to 
laugh at such horrible tragedies.” 

Mimo then added: — “Lionello is approaching his end. 
The wrath of God is manifestly pursuing him. He is 
devoured by remorse, consumed by despair. The active 
part which he took in the iniquitous persecution of so 
many holy bishops in the Marches rendered him a 
madman. His cruelest tortures seemed to be a retribu- 
tion for the horrible sacrilege which he committed on 
the person of the Cardinal de Angelis, Archbishop of 
Fermo. This illustrious prelate, on the night of the 
1st of March, was assailed and seized by a band of 
brigands, the most of whom had been the recipients of 
his bounty. They subjected him to a thousand insults, 
mockeries, ignominies ; they dragged him like a male- 
factor to the fortress of Ancona and cast him into a 
dark dungeon. This noble prince of the Church, who 
had labored so zealously for the welfare of his beloved 
flock, exhibited in his deportment a magnanimous firm- 
ness. He had resisted the menacing tempest which 
howled around him, and buffeted bravely the waves 
of anarchy which flooded and shook the Church. His 
comprehensive intellect, rare prudence and high courage, 
wisdom and administrative capacity, inspired the secret 


366 


LIONELLO. 


societies with alarm. They concocted calumnies, circu- 
lated them in the city of Fermo and the provinces; 
they persuaded the people that he had planned their 
massacre ; and thus excited their fury against him. When 
they entered his apartment to seize him, he eyed them 
with a steady look, and warned them of the excommu- 
nication they incurred by violating his sacred person. 
They grew pale; but, urged on by their chiefs, they 
seized him, bound his hands behind his back, and 
denied him all communication with his Vicar- General. 
They were masters of his person, and held him securely 
indeed. Nevertheless, they were so frightened that 
they invented the existence of a Neri or Pontifical 
party; and every moment threatened him with death. 
In fine, they held, on the night of the 22d or 23d of 
April, a council, at which Lionello was present, with 
two chiefs of the Bloody League of Ancona. There it 
was determined to poison the cardinal.* 


* Augusto Vecchi, in his Italy, History of Two Years, 1848-49, p. 
395, has the effrontery to speak thus to his contemporaries: — “ Then 
the parties who had abdicated — that is to say, the Pope and the Car- 
dinals at Gaeta — put their trust in the Cardinal de Angelis, Arch- 
bishop of Fermo, a man of intelligence, adroitness, and resolution, 
who had established at his see the head-quarters of the most audacious 
centurions. {Surely he was another John of Pro cida !) He concerted 
measures with his colleagues the bishops ; but his manoeuvres proved 
rather prejudicial than advantageous to him ; for, the canons and nuns 
of Petritoli having, at his instigation, refused to permit an inventory 
of their possessions to be prepared, {in this, like all the churches of 
Rome, they simply did their duty,) the Government seized several docu- 
ments which seriously compromised the cardinal, {the same charge was 
made by our tyrants against every bishop who faithfully discharged his 
duty,) and ordered him into seclusion in the citadel of Ancona, — where, 
for several months, he had leisure to reflect on the enormities which 
the Government, by imprisoning him, disabled him from committing.” 

How good is this amiable Mazzinian ! With what suavity he tells 


THE LAST CRIME. 


367 

* They intrusted the execution of this atrocious mur- 
der to two of the most sanguinary assassins of the league. 
One of them replied, 1 Good ! I several times had a mind 
to shoot him when he came to breathe the fresh air at 
the barred window ; but I feared to miss him, as it was 
too long a shot. Very well ! we will fix him now. He 
who brings him his dinner from the hotel is the man for 
me ! Long live the Eepublic !’* * 

“We learn from the notes of Lionello that this was 
the last crime in which he participated. He heaped 
curses upon the act ; and the frightful oaths which it 
extorted from him betray the despair of his soul. The 
concluding notes chronicle his return to Eome, the 
armistice of Lesseps, the factions of Palestrina and 
Velletri. They contain certain propositions which 
prove how faint was the hope which the republicans 
entertained of resisting the French much longer. They 

us that the cardinal was put in seclusion in the citadel of Ancona ! 
Could you not suppose that the patriots had generously allowed him to 
spend some months in the country and take some recreation after the 
fatigues of his episcopal functions ? Our modern Thucydides has not 
a word to say of the vexations, outrages, cruelties, to which the con- 
spirators subjected this prince of the Church, to the grave detriment 
of his health, in this horrible prison. And this Vecchi, who can find 
not the least fault with which to impeach the cardinal, charges him 
with the future enormities which the republic put it out of his power 
to commit! If these men’s hearts were not transparent, how might 
we qualify these impudent falsehoods, these shameless calumnies? 

* The apothecary to whom they applied for a deadly poison shud- 
dered with horror. They told him menacingly that they would try 
the dose on a dog, and if it failed, they would kill him as a traitor. 
He consulted two physicians, who said to him, “ Put two grains of 
tartar-emetic in a vial. It will look like a strong poison ; but it will be 
quite harmless.” The apothecary followed this advice. The officer 
of the guard was secretly apprized of the atrocious plot, and de- 
feated it. 


368 


LIONELLO. 


\ 


inform us that Mazzini and the other chiefs were mak- 
ing ample provisions for a comfortable exile; that a 
banker refused to give a draft on London for twenty- 
five thousand crowns, in exchange for notes of the re- 
public, — a species of money with which the new king of 
the Romans, exceedingly generous with the public funds, 
paid his army, the officers of Government, and the 
people. The triumvirs and their minions pocketed all 
the silver and gold they could find in Rome, in order 
to deposit it in London ; and they show clearly that, if 
they were so earnest in forcing paper money on the 
Roman bankers, it was to have the amount refunded in 
gold on the banks of the Thames.” 

“ They were clever financiers,” said Bartolo. “ Who 
will ever know all their jobbing, and the extent of 
the robberies which they committed ?” 

“We can form some idea. Lionello was deputed to 
carry to London the large sum in drafts found in his 
trunk. He set out from Rome secretly for England. 
When he arrived at Geneva, he blew out his brains 
with a double-barrelled pistol. His broken sentences 
and trembling hand prove that these last notes were 
penned the night before his suicide. He was beset by 
a thousand terrible phantoms, prostrated by the most 
painful dejection. During the journey, he was a prey 
to melancholy. A burning fever fired the blood in his 
veins. His heart was torn by remorse, and plunged in 
despair !’ 

“0 God!” exclaimed Alisa: “what a death! And 
his soul ?” 


APPENDIX. 


I. — Important Note. 

At the sight of so many horrors, some good and loyal 
Italians among the readers of The Jew of Verona , Lionello , and 
The Roman Republic , can scarcely prevail on themselves, in 
their charitable ideas of the world, to give full credence to 
our narrative; because they deem it hardly possible, even 
after the events of 1848—49, that the earth can be cumbered 
with such sanguinary wretches. The Liberals and members 
of secret societies decry our statements, as the falsehoods, 
calumnies, villanies, of an author who seeks to hold them up 
to universal detestation. A fortunate circumstance has recently 
placed in our hands authentic and very rare papers, which will 
enable intelligent men to determine whether or not our charge 
is groundless. So analogous, indeed, is the language to the 
words which we employed, that it may seem as if we copied 
it verbatim. These papers contain the plans and instructions 
of the chiefs of the Carbonari, and of Young Italy, in regard 
to the commotions which were to take place in Italy in 1844. 
It is of these rash outbreaks at Bologna and Bimini that 
Massimo d'Azeglio speaks in his famous work of 1846. 

Take good note, dear reader, of the fragrant bouquets which 
the author offers you. They are letters collected by the police 
and adduced on the trials of Galletti, Montecchi, Bizzoli, and 
others, after their arrest and incarceration, in 1844. These letters 
trace so exactly the course of the revolution, that they seem 
to have been written in 1850. In fact, more than once, the 
author, in his astonishment at the details, was induced to turn 
to the title-page to assure himself that these papers had been 

369 


370 


APPENDIX. 


printed in 1844. Read, then, for yourself, and decide whether 
the author of the Jew of Verona has imposed upon you, ex- 
aggerated his statements, viewed his subject through too dark 
and bloody a medium. 

II. — Fragments of Letters found by the Police in 1843 and 

1844, and used in Evidence during the Prosecution of the 

Roman Conspirators in 1844. 

The letter from which we are about to make some extracts 
was seized at the house of Eusebio Barbetti. One of the 
public functionaries analyzes it, at first, in the following terms : 
— “The author undertakes to show that the insurrection of the 
Bolognese is premature , dictated by private passions and 
personal interests , rather than by higher considerations. 
Thanks to the imprudent exaggerations of Zambeccari, 
Melara, Righi, Carpi, and Bianchi, the Government had 
ample opportunities to crush and extinguish the first sparks 
of the incendiary torch.” He continues, “Anxious to ame- 
liorate the cruel destiny of the inhabitants of the Pontifical 
States, he had determined with his colleague to strike a coup 
d'btat , which should prove to their country and to Europe 
that there were still Italians who knew how to plan, and bring 
to a speedy and happy issue, a conspiracy of gallant hearts 
ready to brave the late enemy, and of statesmen capable of 
sustaining them.” 

He then mentions the measures adopted to give a prudent di- 
rection to the conspiracy at Ravenna, Bologna, and in the rest 
of the Romagna. He adds, “ We have met with many obstacles 
in several of the Italian states, and especially in Lombardy, 
Piedmont, Tuscany, and, more than all, in the Papal States. 
The Pontiff is, unluckily , seated in the very bowels of our 
country .* The potentates of Europe are interested in the 


* Instead of the word “pontiff” the writer uses the vilest and most 
opprobrious terms. 


APPENDIX. 


371 

maintenance of his throne : one-half of the Italians, through 
superstitious reverence for his temporal power, would renew 
the massacres of Gregory XI.* How, then, are we to dispose 
of the Pope? This is my solution of the problem. Seize his 
person, confine him and the cardinals in the Castle of St. 
Angelo, constrain him to co-operate in the revolutionary move- 
ments b y prayers and indulgences , and fortify the people in the 
holy Italian union .f Our watchword must be, Religion , Union , 
Independence Bishops and parish-priests liable to suspicion 
must be removed, and replaced by others, under the pretext that 
the latter, as better qualified to govern their gentle flocks, have 
been chosen and sent by the Pontiff. All this with the secrecy, 
disguise, and constancy of the great N. N.” 

He proceeds to speak of preparations for the outbreak at 
Naples, of the landing of emigrants, of strategical points to 
post armed columns, all in conformity to the directions of 
Mazzini;|| and he adds, “ It is of vital importance to make 
ourselves master of the Duke of Modena. I am devising a 
means to surprise him. It will be dependent on circum- 
stances. As to Charles Albert, we should seek some favor- 
able opportunity to poignard him. I recommend the same 
course to be pursued in regard to the King of Naples. The 
Duke of Tuscany, provided we act with judgment, prompti- 
tude, and adroitness, will easily fall into our hands. § The 


* He might have added, more than a half of the other half. No one 
can deny that Italy is Catholic, and that the larger portion of his 
subjects desire and seek no other government than that of the Pope. 

j- Did not the rebels employ every means to seize the person of the 
Pope in 1848-49? And did they not, prior to their discomfiture, 
kill his prime minister and assail the sovereign in his palace ? 

J In 1847-48, they affected so much religion that they dazzled the 
public eye, and duped many credulous Bartolos. 

|| From the year 1844, Mazzini has been manifestly the soul of 
Italian conspiracies. 

\ Charles Albert was aware of his danger. This serves to explain 
the mystery of his conduct during the last three years of his life. 


372 


APPENDIX. 


Piedmontese chiefs now stand aloof; but, as soon as they see the 
universal commotion in Italy, they will co-operate vigorously. 
The Lombards may second our efforts by poison or by in- 
surrection, under the form of little Sicilian Vespers against 
the Germans.* * These expedients are somewhat barbarous, 
I allow; but it is necessary to employ them against our 
tyrants. At the moment of the explosion, we must have 
a number of proclamations ready : one to the Italians, 
another to the troops in the pay of different princes; some 
marking out the duties of juntos, others relating to enlist- 
ments, the maintenance of order, the penalties decreed against 
active enemies of the Government; others, in fine, in regard to 
contributions, or, rather, forced loans. f 

“Our enemies are numerous: in the first place, the clergy; 
secondly, the nobles and many proprietors; and, lastly, the em- 
ployees of the Government. At the first cry of liberty, revolu- 
tionary committees are to be established; and their immediate 
care must be to secure the persons of the aforesaid members 
of society who are most suspected for their hostility, and who, 
if permitted to be at large, might jeopard the success of the 
good cause. 

“As a rule to guide the committees in their judgments, it is 


By-the-by, mark how the secret societies rid themselves of those very 
kings whom they flatter with so much hypocrisy. We are fired with 
indignation as we witness the murderous attempts made on the lives 
of nearly all the sovereigns of Europe. Isabella of Spain, and Francis 
Joseph of Austria, were assailed with daggers. Similar assaults were 
made on the King of Prussia, the King of Portugal, and Napoleon III. 
Note, moreover, the menaces published in the newspapers to stimulate 
assassins against all kings. 

* Poison! Sicilian Vespers! And yet these gentlemen have ever on 
their tongues the words humanity, moderation, abolition of capital punish- 
ment ! How very tender-hearted they are! They ahhor the Croat; 
but was it the Croat who planned the massacre of children, women, and 
old men ? 

j- This plan was executed to the letter. 


•APPENDIX. 


373 


proper to discriminate between two classes of citizens : 1st. 
Those who are indifferent to our cause, and attached, through 
a love of quiet, to the former Government ; — these persons we 
must try to win to our side: 2d. Functionaries or private citi- 
zens who show a hostile spirit. These must be put to death. 
Let them be arrested quietly, during the night, and the re- 
port circulated that they are exiled or imprisoned, or that 
they have absconded. All precautions must be taken to 
avoid needless tumults and the mistakes of the Septcmbriseurs , 
who inspired horror by their public massacres. Death should 
be inflicted speedily and without unnecessary tortures.* 

“ I grant that these measures are terrible. Do not suppose, 
my dear friend, that I am thirsting for blood. On the con- 
trary, were it in my power, I would spare its effusion ; but 
this compassion would be a ruinous policy. The death of 
these men is for us a necessity. Whilst we were fighting for 
our native soil, they would stir up the Germans against us.” 

After these administrative arrangements, he says, “It is 
likely that foreign Powers will intervene to maintain the peace 
and general equilibrium of Europe. Consequently we must 
enter into secret negotiations with them; affect to place on the 
throne of Italy (and, if necessary for our safety, we must exe- 
cute what we pretend) a foreign prince who will swear to 
uphold the Constitution. This course of policy will tend to 
excite jealousies and involve in war the sovereigns of Europe. f 
In a word, we must adopt every expedient to accomplish our 
end. It is the doctrine of our master, Machiavelli, expressed 
in three words, — self-interest , knavery, treason. £ By pursuing 

* Is not this the history of the massacres of St. Callixtus, — of the 
Infernal Company of Sinigallia, — of Ancona, Imola, Pesaro, Faenza, 
Bologna, and other cities ? 

-}- Are they not crafty ? A foreign prince is to expel the legitimate 
sovereign! The policy of the secret societies is to wage war against 
all legitimate authority ! Who is blind to this fact? And yet! . . . 

J What avowals ! Are the revelations of the Jew of Verona and of 
Lionello equal to these? 

32 


374 


APPENDIX. 


any other line of conduct, we would sacrifice our lives and the 
liberty of the nation. Many of our brethren turn their eyes 
toward France. I certainly do no such thing. We recollect 
what was done for Poland in 1830, and for ourselves in 1831. 
The French may come, — to act as robbers, never as liberators.” 
He continues to cite examples from history to stimulate them 
to make sacrifices for their country. 

III. — Another Fragment. 

This letter also was seized at the house of Barbetti, at 
Bimini. It is entitled “ Italian Conspiracy of the Sons of 
Death.” The author expresses himself as follows : — 

“ The aim of this society is to promote, for the benefit of 
Italy, an insurrection which may constitute an epoch in the 
annals of the world, to reunite Italy and emancipate her. 
The attempt is to be made in 1844. Our banner is death ; 
our enemies, all foreigners and all citizens who arm to oppose 
us. Every member shall be subject to military discipline, 
and, without discussion, shall execute the orders of superiors. 
. . . The conspirators shall take the following oath: — ‘I 
swear profound secrecy and entire obedience to the rules of 
this Italian conspiracy, which I have entered of my own 
accord ; and I am resolved to die a freeman rather than live 
a slave/ The chief will register the names and surnames of 
the members, with notes of their country, condition, and re- 
sidences; so as to keep a keen eye upon them and return 
a weekly report to the superior committee.”* 

IV. — Letter to Barbetti. 

“It is said that many of the chiefs at Bologna are more 
dangerous than brigands. Needy, vulgar, stupid, cowardly, 
they are ruled only by regard for their private interests, and 

* This is the admirable liberty of members of secret societies ! 
A blind obedience, a stringent oath, the minutest surveillance! 


APPENDIX. 


375 

by personal resentments and vengeance, rather than by patriot- 
ism and a love of liberty. On this point we have signal 
proofs, which it would be cruel to divulge, exhibiting calami- 
ties of which several of our brethren have been victims.”* 

V . — Note addressed to Enrico Serpieri. 

This note was seized by the police at the house of Enrico 
Serpieri, in Rimini. It is dated from Bologna, April 18, 
1844. After deploring the timidity and cowardice of a large 
number of the conspirators at the beginning of the Italian 
revolution, the writer says : u In regard to the last letter of 
our friend, of which we have now to speak, this is my opinion. 
If the Neapolitans rise, we agree that we ought to join them; 
but if they do not, (and on this point I have always had my 

doubts,) are we to be silent and sluggish ? No, by ! If 

Rome and Tuscany are with us, I think that, even if Naples 
hang back, we ought not to be laggards. Rome must raise 
the standard of insurrection ; we will follow, though Tuscany — 
as is most probable — fail us. Rome has promised it ; she is 
able to do it, and she will do it. But if Rome disappoint 
us, ought we nevertheless to begin the work ? I think not. 
The masses in every city will have the ability and the means 
to combat the power and force of the locality and expel them ; 
but they cannot at once form a corps sufficiently strong to 
march on Rome and disperse the authorities. Moreover, as 
long as this rotten throne shall last, as long as this crafty 
Government shall stand to receive the incense of all the mon- 
archies of Europe, we will have effected nothing. We will 
be regarded and treated as robbers. No aid will be extended 
to us ; for the dignity of nations will never stoop to succor us 
in order to destroy an ally. But if Rome be crushed, the 


* For the pompous words, Country, Liberty, Independence, read, The 
private advantages of the conspirators when they tyrannize over the 
people ! 


376 


APPENDIX. 


state of affairs will be changed, and then perhaps we will 
gain assistance. Suppose we do not? Well, what matters 
it? The insurrection is a fixed fact. Then we will have only 
one enemy to combat ; that is, the foreigner who will under- 
take to oppress us. A guerilla war, formidable and bloody, 
a counterpart of Spain’s long-continued struggle, or that of 
Greece, will compel the invaders to retire or come to terms. 
But, I repeat it, the power of Rome must fall; fall under the 
shock of a sudden uprising of the people, to astound, appall, 
paralyze, all defence. If this should be insufficient, the emi- 
grants simultaneously and unitedly will assail her. This 
is the object at which I wish you to aim with energetic 
ardor, though the hoped-for outbreak of the Neapolitans 
should be deferred or defeated. The insurrection of Rome 
will be followed by that of the entire Pontifical States. 
Should the authorities hold out for a day or two, we will 
inform them at last that we have conquered on every side. 
The Government will see its final day of existence, and must 
lay its head on the block. Let therefore the cry be, “ All our 
hopes are centred in Rome : all our cares and succors must 
tend to Rome.” 

He next speaks, on the hypothesis that the Romans did 
not second the conspiracy, of the folly of retiring to the 
mountains and carrying on a guerilla war. “If Rome be 
with us, we must fall back into the mountain district and 
abide the onset of a foreign enemy; otherwise, we will be 
miserable skeletons, ill armed, and destitute of funds, unable 
to cope with the overwhelming armies that will fall upon 
us.”* 


* No document is more important than this to expose the plans 
of the Mazzinians and Mamianists in 1848-49. It is true they 
dethroned the sovereign Pontiff ; but they cheated themselves with 
the hope that they would have but one enemy to combat. All 
Catholic monarchs combined to reinstate on his throne the Vicar 
of Jesus Christ, and the rebels labored only to multiply the tri- 


APPENDIX. 


377 

The letter ends thus : — “ It is of vital moment that Arthur 
communicate to the emigrants my ideas concerning their 
co-operation at Rome. I beg them to give this subject their 
most earnest attention , their liveliest solicitude. The channel 
of intercourse is free, the appliances are easy. They know better 
than any one that we must be regulated by circumstances, 
and measurably defer to the opinions of those who are on the 
spot. Arthur will not fail to attend to this.” 


umphs of the Holy See. Their project of maintaining a partisan 
warfare in the Apennines was fruitlessly tried by Garibaldi. He 
was hunted from the mountains to the plain, and. thence to the sea ; 
his predatory bands were dispersed or annihilated. 


THE END. 



. 







• • • 

• : £ , - - 

. 




































































































* 













/* 


































































